The Epoch Times » Techhttp://www.theepochtimes.com
The Epoch Times is an independent voice in print and on the web. We report news responsibly and truthfully so that readers can improve their own lives and increase their understanding and respect for their neighbors next door and around the globe.Sun, 02 Aug 2015 17:29:03 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.5Facebook Enters Race to Build an Internet for the Entire World With Solar Dronehttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1699292-facebook-enters-race-to-build-an-internet-for-the-entire-world-with-solar-drone/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1699292-facebook-enters-race-to-build-an-internet-for-the-entire-world-with-solar-drone/#commentsFri, 31 Jul 2015 22:18:58 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Facebook has built a solar-powered drone that it plans to deploy across the globe to provide Internet access everywhere—including remote areas in the Third World. Testing of the prototype drone is already underway in California.

If successful, the initiative could …

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Facebook has built a solar-powered drone that it plans to deploy across the globe to provide Internet access everywhere—including remote areas in the Third World. Testing of the prototype drone is already underway in California.

If successful, the initiative could massively enlarge Facebook’s user-base.

According to Facebook, 4 billion people on Earth still lack access to the Internet, and while some solutions are promising, they won’t guarantee reliable infrastructure for all.

“Ten percent of the world’s population lives in remote locations with no internet infrastructure, and the kinds of infrastructure technologies used everywhere else—things like fiber-optic cable, microwave repeaters and cell towers—may be a challenge to deploy cost-effectively in these regions,” Jay Parikh, Facebook’s vice president of global engineering, wrote in a blog post.

Like other solar-powered airplanes, the Aquila has an incredibly large wingspan (wider than the Boeing 747) and a relatively small mass (the same weight as a car, which is hundreds of times lighter than a Boeing 747), and is designed to fly continuously for three months at a time.

Flying at altitudes of 60,000-90,000 feet above sea level, the Aquila works by beaming lasers at small towers on the ground, which in turn create WiFi spots for people in the vicinity. The Aquila is designed to be able to transmit data at towers within a 31-mile (50-kilometer) radius at 10 gigabits per second.

Facebook’s ambition to offer Internet access in the developing is of course a business venture as much as a humanitarian mission.

Facebook’s ambition to offer Internet access in the developing world to billions of poor who currently lack access, is of course a business venture as much as a humanitarian mission.

In many parts of the world, Facebook offers Internet packages that grant access to the Facebook mobile app and a handful of other apps at a discount price. It’s been so successful that many users, who have no previous web-browsing habits, confuse Facebook for the Internet, or state that they don’t use the Internet, but do use Facebook.

“People will walk into phone stores and say ‘I want Facebook,'” Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, according to Wall Street Journal. “People actually confuse Facebook and the Internet in some places.”

The company’s practice of collaborating with mobile internet providers to zero-rate its apps—not charge customers data fees for using it—has raised alarms from observers who see it as a violation of the one of the principles of net neutrality: allowing websites to zero-rate access to themselves, they say, is a slippery slope towards a balkanized web dominated by a few major websites.

In May, an open letter signed by dozens of internet freedom organizations around the world accused Facebook of “building a walled garden in which the world’s poorest people will only be able to access a limited set of insecure websites and services.”

OneWeb, founded by ex-Google employee Greg Wyler, aims at launching a global satellite system to accomplish the same goal. The venture, which raised $500 million in a fundraising round last month and would require around $3 billion to become operational, hopes to make its services available by 2019.

The plan would require hundreds of tiny satellites to be launched into Earth’s orbit. To cut down on latency—the interval of time it takes for the satellite to respond to a request—the satellites are to be placed in low orbit, at most 1,250 miles above ground-level, instead of geo-synchronous orbit at 22,000 miles up. Satellites operating at such low altitudes cover a smaller area, but what they lack in range, they’ll be made up for in numbers.

OneWeb plans to launch nearly 700 small satellites in the first-wave.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also plans to launch thousands of low-orbit satellites to become a global Internet provider to every corner of the world. But his vision is even bigger than that.

Musk wants to create a network of satellites providing Internet access not only to Earth, but also one day to connect the blue planet to a future colony on Mars.

“Greg [Wyler] and I have a fundamental disagreement about the architecture,” Musk said earlier this year, according to Bloomberg Business. “We want a satellite that is an order of magnitude more sophisticated than what Greg wants.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1699292-facebook-enters-race-to-build-an-internet-for-the-entire-world-with-solar-drone/feed/0Firefighters May Have to Shoot Drones Out of the Sky in the Futurehttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1697636-firefighters-may-have-to-shoot-drones-out-of-the-sky-in-the-future/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1697636-firefighters-may-have-to-shoot-drones-out-of-the-sky-in-the-future/#commentsThu, 30 Jul 2015 23:01:43 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>This week marked another round of tensions over the appropriate place for drones in our skies.

On Tuesday, July 27, San Bernardino County, California, put up a $75,000 bounty for the pilot who in late June flew a drone that …

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This week marked another round of tensions over the appropriate place for drones in our skies.

On Tuesday, July 27, San Bernardino County, California, put up a $75,000 bounty for the pilot who in late June flew a drone that interfered with a firefighting mission in Lake County. Three aircrafts carrying flame retardant had to turn back because a drone was in their way, costing the U.S. Forest Service $10,000 and delaying containment of a forest fire that stretched across thousands of acres.

“Low-flying air tankers cannot share the sky with drones because the small aircraft can be sucked into the jet engines, causing the engines to fail and the planes to crash,” the county supervisors said in a statement.

The bounty is the latest of a series of actions the California state government has taken to address the interference that drones could pose to firefighting missions.

Earlier this month, California Rep. Paul Cook introduced a bill that would make piloting a drone that interfered with firefighting a criminal offense, and a California state senator introduced legislation to give government officials legal immunity when destroying drones in such circumstances.

“It is the authors’ hope and intent that the advent of ‘jamming’ technology could effectively keep drones away from emergency response areas and flight paths,” state Sen. Ted Gaines said in a statement.

There’s a problem with that solution, however: jamming technology is illegal.

Jamming works by overwhelming the cell and radio frequency in a given area with so many signals that any data that can be transmitted is lost in the noise, and is a tool used by the military to disrupt enemy communication.

It is currently illegal to market, sell, or use jamming technology unless you have explicit approval from the federal government.

Because signal jamming devices can disrupt vital lines of communication, like 911 calls or seniors messaging their doctors, even if their target is something else, it is currently illegal to market, sell, or use jamming technology in the United States unless you have explicit approval from the federal government. Even a small device that fits in a briefcase has a range of miles.

“A single violation of the jamming prohibition can result in tens of thousands of dollars in monetary penalties, seizure of the illegal device, and imprisonment,” the Federal Communications Commission said in a statement in 2011.

Last year, the Chinese firm C.T.S. Technology was fined a record-breaking $34.9 million for marketing over 300 different types of frequency jammers that targeted cellphones, GPSs, and other devices.

Of course, cellphones and drones operate on different frequencies, and it’s possible that a signal jamming device could one day be customized to only affect drones within a controlled area, but it would be such a niche product that it will likely exist only in theory for now.

But there is no shortage of other means to remove pesky drones that buzz in the way of fire relief airplanes. A clean, mess-free way to pull a drone out of one’s path is to fly another drone over it with a net, capturing the drone and pulling it out of the way.

Lasers can also do the trick, although the technology isn’t highly mobile at the moment. A German missile company has successfully built a laser that can zap drones out of the sky within a range of 1,500 feet.

Shotguns have also been effective for drones at approachable altitudes, and for drones flying higher than what can be shot from the ground, strapping a gun to another drone could do the trick.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1697636-firefighters-may-have-to-shoot-drones-out-of-the-sky-in-the-future/feed/0How Have You Lived This Long Without Knowing These 10 Hidden iPhone Tricks?http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1697796-how-have-you-lived-this-long-without-knowing-these-10-hidden-iphone-tricks/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1697796-how-have-you-lived-this-long-without-knowing-these-10-hidden-iphone-tricks/#commentsThu, 30 Jul 2015 14:53:10 +0000Zach Epstein]]>Some people like to pretend they know it all when it comes to Apple’s iPhone. I promise: you don’t know it all.

Even if you’ve been carrying an iPhone in your pocket since the first day the handset became available …

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Some people like to pretend they know it all when it comes to Apple’s iPhone. I promise: you don’t know it all.

Even if you’ve been carrying an iPhone in your pocket since the first day the handset became available back in 2007, you still don’t know everything there is to know about all of the phone’s features, because there are just too many things baked into iOS to remember them all.

On Wednesday, I told you about 10 nifty iPhone tricks that could collectively be game-changers for many people. Judging by the dozens of positive emails I’ve received since that post ran, people definitely learned some great new tricks.

So why stop at 10?

Today, I’ve got 10 more great hidden iPhone tricks for you. Whether you’re a self-proclaimed iPhone expert or a novice, and whether you’ve owned every iPhone Apple has released or the iPhone 6 was your first iPhone, you will learn something here today.

Enjoy.

1. Make Your Camera Flash Blink When New Messages Arrive

Here’s a great example of an accessibility feature that’s useful for everyone.

Open the Settings app and tap on General, then Accessibility. Scroll down to “LED Flash for Alerts” and slide the toggle to on.

2. Use Your Camera Flash as a Flashlight

Speaking of the camera flash… many people know about this one, but you would be surprised at how many people don’t.

Drag up from the bottom of your screen to open your iPhone’s Control Center, and then tap the bottom-left button to turn your iPhone’s flash on and use it as a flashlight. Tap that same button one more time to turn it off.

3. Take Vertical Panoramas

Everyone loves using the built-in panorama feature in the iPhone’s camera, but most people don’t pause for a moment to realize that panoramas don’t always have to be done in landscape. Instead, you can move your iPhone vertically while in panorama mode to capture something very tall in a single frame.

4. Dim Your Display Quickly When Reading in the Dark

The iPhone’s auto-dim feature never seems to work the way you want it to. As a result, most people leave it off. When you’re reading something in the dark though, it’s nice to have a quick and easy way to dim your display.

Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Accessibility Shortcut (it’s at the bottom) -> Set to “Zoom”

Now anytime you triple-tap your home button on any screen, your display will dim.

5. Make TouchID Work Faster

TouchID is rumored to be getting some pretty big improvements on the upcoming iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, but you can make Apple’s fingerprint scanner work faster on your iPhone right now.

Instead of just recording your thumbprint (or whichever finger you use most often) once, save it two or even three times as different prints. You’ll be shocked at how much faster your iPhone unlocks after you do this.

6. Save Money While Traveling by Only Using iMessage

Roaming charges can add up fast, so Wi-Fi is your best friend while you’re travelling. Using a VoIP app is a good way to communicate while you’re abroad, but what about messaging? Asking people to use a different messaging app just while you’re travelling probably isn’t going to work out very well.

Guess what — any iPhone user can message you just as he or she always does using iMessage. Meanwhile, you can ensure you don’t pay any pricey roaming charges for messages that might otherwise be sent as an SMS.

Just open the Settings app and go to Messages. Then disable “Send as SMS” as well as “MMS Messaging” just to be safe. You can also disable cellular data completely now, and you’ll still be able to message everyone you know with an iPhone.

7. Use Your Earbuds to Snap a Picture

Of course you know that you can use the volume buttons on your iPhone to snap a picture while using the camera (if you didn’t, enjoy that eleventh hidden trick), but did you know you can do the same thing with the volume buttons on a connected headset?

Now you do.

8. Charge Your Phone Faster

There are tons of areas where the iPhone is a class-leader. Battery life, unfortunately, is not one of them.

Do yourself a favor: buy an iPad charger. They’re just $19 on Amazon, and they’ll charge your phone much faster than the adapter that ships with it.

Apple has also confirmed in the past that using an iPad charger with an iPhone will not do any damage.

9. Save a Draft With One Swipe

As we noted in a recent post, the iPhone’s Mail app includes a great hidden feature that lets you save an email as a draft with one single swipe. The draft stays visible at the bottom of your screen while you look elsewhere in the Mail app, and then you can continue working on it again with a single tap.

10. Reachability

On any screen no matter where you are, double-touch on the iPhone’s home button to shift the entire screen downward briefly, thus allowing you to reach things near the top of the display without having to use two hands. Since the iPhone’s screens are bigger than ever now, this is an insanely useful feature that you’ll love.

Note that this is a double-touch gesture, not a double-tap. Don’t actually press the home button, just touch its surface twice quickly.

The summer is in full swing in the northern hemisphere, and this year is the hottest one on record so far. If you’re looking for a quick escape at the beach, or anywhere else you think you can escape the

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The summer is in full swing in the northern hemisphere, and this year is the hottest one on record so far. If you’re looking for a quick escape at the beach, or anywhere else you think you can escape the heat, make sure you prepare your iPhone 6 (or any other model) for the trip.

The device, as Apple reveals in a support document, can operate safely when the temperature outside is between 0º and 35º C (32º to 95º F). Whenever it gets hotter than that, the iPhone will automatically shut down so it can cool itself down, as seen in the following screenshot.

This is how the handset is supposed to operate to try to save its internal components from damage. The same thing happens with the iPad and iPod touch, in case you were wondering.

(BGR)

Apple says that you shouldn’t leave your devices in a car on a hot summer day or leave it in direct sunlight for extended periods of times. Furthermore, using certain features in hot temperatures or under direct sunlight, including GPS tracking and navigation or playing graphics-intensive games, isn’t advised.

When the maximum temperature threshold is surpassed, the iPhone will stop working for a while.

In case you’re at the beach, you can always consider covering the device with a towel so it’s out of the sun. Storing it into a water cooler might also be a good idea, Business Insider points out, as long as there’s no water damage risk. No iPhone model made to date has waterproof capabilities, so don’t put it in ice or water.

One more important note: Even if you see the black screen above on your iPhone, you’ll still be able to make emergency calls on it.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1697696-iphone-tips-how-to-prevent-shutdowns-during-hot-summer-beach-days/feed/0This Quick Quiz Will Tell You If You Have Been Hacked or Nothttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1697673-this-quick-quiz-will-tell-you-if-you-have-been-hacked-or-not/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1697673-this-quick-quiz-will-tell-you-if-you-have-been-hacked-or-not/#commentsThu, 30 Jul 2015 13:34:39 +0000Yoni Heisler]]>

Over the past few years, there has been no shortage of high-profile credit card breaches at some of the largest retailers in the country.

From Target to Home Depot, it seems that we can’t go a few months without hearing

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Over the past few years, there has been no shortage of high-profile credit card breaches at some of the largest retailers in the country.

From Target to Home Depot, it seems that we can’t go a few months without hearing a story regarding some new worrisome data breach. With respect to Home Depot in particular, it’s estimated that nearly 60 million credit cards were compromised over a 5-month period.

Compounding the problem is that retailers aren’t the only target that hackers have their eyes on. In recent months, hackers have managed to obtain confidential information from targets as varied as the U.S. Government, health insurance providers, and even popular apps like Twitter and Snapchat. Indeed, it can get a bit tiring trying to keep up with what sites have been exposed to security breaches and when.

Jumping to the rescue is The New York Times which recently put out a handy quiz that lets users figure out a) if their personal information has been exposed to hackers and b) what type of personal information may have been compromised.

Without question, the most worrisome hack involves the federal government. As the quiz lays out, anyone who either applied for a job or who worked for the federal government anytime after 2000 may have had their address, employment history, financial history, fingerprints, and even social security number compromised.

While some breaches, like Twitter, only put your email and password at risk, an Adobe breach from before 2013 put user credit card information at risk.

All in all, if you’re at all concerned with online privacy and keeping your confidential information free from prying eyes, this quiz is definitely worth checking out.

As for what consumers can do to protect themselves, well, that’s an interesting question.

The Times notes that part of the problem centers on outdated equipment:

At government agencies, old, out-of-date systems and budget shortfalls have left information vulnerable. Security experts say there is no way to keep hackers out of systems with traditional defenses like firewalls and antivirus software.

With breaches now the norm, organizations are finally moving towards more modern defenses, like monitoring software that can pick up unusual network activity and two-factor authentication, a system that requires employees and Internet users to enter a second, one-time password when they log in from a new computer. But security experts say the only way information can be protected is to scramble it with encryption technology that makes it unreadable to hackers.

So while consumers are essentially helpless when an entity like a health insurance provider is hacked, certain services like Apple Pay can help reduce the likelihood of losing one’s sensitive information when conducting traditional retail transactions.

Additionally, turning on two-factor authentication whenever possible can help quite a bit. And last but not least, remember to never use the same password across all online sites.

Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over — Windows 10 is finally here. Microsoft on Wednesday began the long, long process of trying to make the world forget all about the disaster that was Windows 8.

By all accounts, the

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Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over — Windows 10 is finally here. Microsoft on Wednesday began the long, long process of trying to make the world forget all about the disaster that was Windows 8.

By all accounts, the company has done a good job so far, not just by skipping 9 and jumping right to 10 for the software’s name, but also by creating a new operating system that actually seems like it was designed to run on a laptop or desktop, rather than just a tablet.

While July 29th marks the start of the Windows 10 rollout, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get the new software today — or even this week — if you sit around and wait for Microsoft’s updater. If you want to be a bit proactive, however, you can download and install the update right now.

Tech bloggers have been tripping over themselves to sing Windows 10 praise. It could just be excitement to finally be rid of Windows 8, which is by far the worst desktop operating system Microsoft has released in several generations. Or, perhaps Windows 10 really is that good.

Whatever the case, it’s finally time for the public to get its hands on Microsoft’s release version of Windows 10.

Users running a recent version of Windows have no doubt already seen Microsoft’s automatic Window 10 update tool. You know, that icon that popped up in your taskbar to pester you constantly about updating? Right, that’s the one.

Registering with that tool enters users into a queue to download and install the update, but there’s no telling how many other people are in front of yours or how long it will be before you get the update.

If you don’t feel like waiting and want to take matters into your own hands, it’s actually pretty simple to skip the queue and install the update right now.

First, you’ll need to download the Windows 10 installation file as an ISO image; before you do, make sure you have a blank DVD and a DVD burner, or a USB flash drive with at least 4GB of free space on hand. Now, simply visit this page on Microsoft’s website and select the Windows 10 edition you’d like to download. Note that each installation file includes everything you need to install either the Home or Pro version of Windows 10.

Next, you’ll be asked to pick a language for your Windows 10 installation. After that, you’ll get download links for both a 32-bit and a 64-bit version of Windows 10. Make sure you download the proper build.

Once your download is complete, Windows will walk you through the process of burning a Windows 10 installation DVD or writing the installer to a USB flash drive, whichever method you chose. After that, you’ll install Windows 10 from the new media you created. Just make sure you backup all of your data first — you shouldn’t lose anything during the upgrade process, but you can never be too safe.

One final note: remember that the upgrade to Windows 10 is completely free if you’re currently running Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. If you have an older version of Microsoft’s Windows platform, you’ll need to buy a Windows 10 license.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1697637-how-to-download-and-install-windows-10-right-now/feed/0World of Wireless Phone, Car Charging Comes One Step Closerhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1694298-world-of-wireless-phone-car-charging-comes-one-step-closer/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1694298-world-of-wireless-phone-car-charging-comes-one-step-closer/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 21:44:43 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Electric cables for smartphones and cars could soon become a vestige of history. On July 28 and 29 respectively, Qualcomm rolled out wireless charging projects for smartphones and electric cars bringing the reality one step closer.

A similar system for …

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Electric cables for smartphones and cars could soon become a vestige of history. On July 28 and 29 respectively, Qualcomm rolled out wireless charging projects for smartphones and electric cars bringing the reality one step closer.

A similar system for phones is already delivered by companies like Powermat, which has partnered with retail outlets like Starbucks and McDonald’s to offer the service to customers.

And Plugless has a home installation stations for the top electric vehicles on the market.

Qualcomm Technologies Inc. has plans for mainstreaming both.

To be compatible with wireless charging, phones either need an adapter, which Powermat sells, or they’ll need a metal back.

“Today, more device manufacturers are choosing to utilize metal alloys in their product designs to provide greater structural support and, of course, aesthetics,” Steve Pazol, a general manager at Qualcomm, said in a statement.

Qualcomm’s technology, working in tandem with this development in the industry, opens up a world of use cases for consumer electronics, says Pazol.

Besides convenience, wireless chargers experience less wear and tear than cords, and potentially less energy is lost in the process.

The disadvantage is that wireless charging usually takes longer than the traditional method.

Qualcomm has chosen to adopt the Rezence standard for wireless charging, one of the three charging standards vying for widespread adoption, the other two being Qi, used by Powermat, and Power 2.0.

Auto Charging

Halo, Qualcomm’s system of wireless charging for electric vehicles, has already been tested on the likes of Formula E racing vehicles, and now the company wants to introduce it to the consumer market. It signed a licensing agreement to allow Brusa, an automobile parts company, to develop, manufacture, and supply Halo metal plates to other car manufacturers.

This isn’t Qualcomm’s first collaboration with a consumer car company. In May, it partnered with Mercedes Benz maker Daimler AG to develop wireless charging technologies.

Loosely speaking, wireless charging is also widely used today, the method being analogous to Wi-Fi. Electrical charging is done by using conductive coils to create a magnetic field that acts as a conduit for electricity in place of metal wires.

The Braun company, which makes rechargeable toothbrushes, has used wireless charging at extremely close range in its products since the 1990s, but the landmark moment for inductive charging technology was in 2006, when MIT scientists found a way to transfer electricity between coils a few meters apart.

Mass adoption of wireless charging could have immense environmental consequences as the range for wireless charging lengthens as the technology progresses; disposable batteries for gadgets like the mouse and keyboard could be replaced with rechargeable batteries as charging stations find their way into everyday furniture; you’ll never have to throw away another worn-out plastic cord.

Theoretically, wireless charging plates could be installed onto the highways, allowing electric cars to charge while they drive.

For cars, wireless charging offers a solution to the low-range problem—a fully-charged Tesla model S can only drive for 250 miles—that plagues existing models. Theoretically, wireless charging plates could be installed onto the highways, allowing electric cars to charge while they drive.

As fantastical as that may sound, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has already promised the world that he’ll get around to making something like that happen, although not formally. In a 2014 interview with Musk, Stephen Colbert said that he wanted “a charging system” that would follow him around anywhere in the United States,” to which Musk replied “We’ll do it.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1694298-world-of-wireless-phone-car-charging-comes-one-step-closer/feed/0Review: 5 Ways Windows 10 Fixes Annoyances in Predecessorhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1696674-review-5-ways-windows-10-fixes-annoyances-in-predecessor/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1696674-review-5-ways-windows-10-fixes-annoyances-in-predecessor/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 19:57:59 +0000Associated Press]]>NEW YORK—It took me just a weekend to get comfortable with Microsoft Corp.’s new Windows 10 operating system, something I never did with its predecessor, Windows 8, even after nearly three years.

With Wednesday, July 29’s update, Windows no longer …

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NEW YORK—It took me just a weekend to get comfortable with Microsoft Corp.’s new Windows 10 operating system, something I never did with its predecessor, Windows 8, even after nearly three years.

With Wednesday, July 29’s update, Windows no longer feels jarring, as though I’m using two different computers at once.

Best part: This update is free.

Windows 8 was Microsoft’s way of modernizing personal computers, as smartphones and tablets grew more popular. But it came across as trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. It steered people toward tablet-like touch commands, even on desktops and laptops that had keyboards and mouse controls. Apps that weren’t designed for touch—including Microsoft’s Office—got shoved into the basement, known as desktop mode. Desktop mode and tablet/touch mode were like feuding siblings, each seeking to dominate in a high-stakes tug of war.

With Windows 10, everyone gets along. There are still separate desktop and tablet modes, but you largely stick with one or the other depending on whether you have a keyboard. (Microsoft skipped Windows 9, by the way, as though to distance itself from Windows 8 and its criticisms.)

Although there are a few reasons to hold off upgrading, which I’ll explain below, Windows 10 is better than Windows 8 in many ways:

Windows Apps Open as Windows

Apps for Windows 8 were designed to take up the full screen, just like tablets. Although you could split the screen, apps could be placed only side by side, not top to bottom, as you’d probably want when having email and streaming video open at once.

With Mac computers and previous versions of Windows, you can resize windows however you like. With Windows 8, that was limited to apps that hadn’t been adapted for touch—the ones kept in the basement, segregated from the newer apps. Windows 10 restores resizing for all apps, touch or not. It sounds cosmetic, but it makes a big difference in fitting in with your workflow.

Single Start Screen

With Windows 8, the corner start button in desktop mode got you to a full-screen, graphical start page in tablet mode. You had to return to the desktop mode to run an older app, even though you were sent to tablet mode to launch it.

With Windows 10, the start button functions the way it did with Windows 7 and earlier. The graphical start page from Windows 8 is embedded in that start button, so that it feels modern without making you chuck old habits. You can still get a full-screen start page, but it’s not forced on you.

Single Browser

Internet Explorer is gone as the default browser, replaced by Edge. You get some functional improvements, such as a virtual marker to draw arrows or circle an entry on a Web page to share over email, Facebook, and other means.

Edge, Microsoft’s new browser, replaces Internet Explorer. Most people will get Windows 10 when they buy a new PC, though people with Windows 7 and 8 have a year to upgrade for free. (Microsoft/AP)

Even better, you no longer have separate browsers for desktop and tablet modes. With Windows 8, when you opened a website in desktop mode, it didn’t show up in tablet mode. You had to open it again. With Windows 10, it’s a unified browser, so you pick up where you leave off if you switch modes.

Some websites, including those from Google Inc., aren’t as smooth on Edge as they are on other browsers, but the problem might be limited to Microsoft’s Surface tablets. The sites work better on a Hewlett-Packard Co. laptop upgraded to Windows 10. You can still get Windows 10 on Surface and install a different browser, such as Google’s Chrome. In addition, Internet Explorer will still be available for older websites that need it, but it will stay on the sidelines as Edge takes center stage.

Borrowing from Phones

While Windows 8 tried too hard to adopt features from mobile devices, Windows 10 brings two features that make sense.

An Action Center offers quick access to settings such as Wi-Fi, brightness, and “quiet hours”—a way to suspend notifications and sounds if, say, you’re giving a presentation.

Cortana, the voice assistant akin to Google Now and Apple Inc.’s Siri, comes to Windows PCs. Because you might feel awkward talking to your computer, you have the option of typing in commands, such as “Remind me to get milk.”

Cortana is integrated with the Edge browser, too. Right-click to ask Cortana to define a word or provide a restaurant’s hours of operation. A Cortana window temporarily slides over with that nugget of information so you don’t clutter your browser with opened tabs.

Laptops Work on the Go

As Microsoft shifts its focus to online services, it has been steering users to store files on its OneDrive online storage service. As with Dropbox and Google Drive, OneDrive typically keeps copies of all your files on your computer so you have them while offline. Any changes you make sync with the service once you’re back online.

That changed with Windows 8. Copies were grabbed from the Internet only when you needed them, which meant files weren’t always available when using laptops on the go, away from Wi-Fi. Windows 10 restores the approach of keeping copies of everything, unless you limit that because you’re low on storage.

Should You Upgrade?

I’ve been using a pre-release version of Windows 10 for a month without major problems. As with any upgrades, make sure your favorite apps and accessories will work, as it might take time for outside developers and manufacturers to catch up. Microsoft’s Get Windows 10 app will check for known problems. Back up your PC first.

If you’re using a low-end “Home” version of Windows, Microsoft will turn on future updates automatically once you get Windows 10. That is normally a good thing, especially as Microsoft plans to add features regularly, rather than wait for the next major release. But automatic updates might surprise you with incompatible apps and accessories.

You might want to wait a few months to see whether these automatic updates cause any meltdowns for others. In addition, Windows 7 users who use Windows Media Center or have DVD players might need to find replacement software first. The free Windows 10 offer is good for a year, so there’s no rush.

The case is easier for those using Windows 8, including the Home version. The experience is much better, making any potential upgrade hassles worth it.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1696674-review-5-ways-windows-10-fixes-annoyances-in-predecessor/feed/0Wars of the Future Will Be Fought by Robots and Hackershttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1678032-wars-of-the-future-will-be-fought-by-robots-and-hackers/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1678032-wars-of-the-future-will-be-fought-by-robots-and-hackers/#commentsTue, 28 Jul 2015 23:15:57 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>In March, leading military researchers hailing from institutions like the NSA, DARPA, and the U.S. Naval Academy convened at the University of Maryland to attend a two-day workshop funded by the U.S. Army to discuss what they think ground warfare …]]>

In March, leading military researchers hailing from institutions like the NSA, DARPA, and the U.S. Naval Academy convened at the University of Maryland to attend a two-day workshop funded by the U.S. Army to discuss what they think ground warfare will look like in 2050.

The participants were instructed to imagine themselves, time traveling as it were, waking up in 2050 “in the middle of an on-going battle” and describe what they envisioned, with the results compiled in a written report.

A large number of themes emerged in the ensuing discussion, some of them—cyborg soldiers, autonomous weapons—already familiar to the general public, and others, such as cognitive modeling of the enemy, more obscure. But one observation was repeated again and again: hackers will play a decisive role in the wars of the future.

Remote-controlled weapons are already widely used in the military—drones being the most notable example—and as artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, researchers assume that most of combat operations, including complex tasks like coordination and communication, will be outsourced to machines by 2050.

Researchers predict that a small number of “super-human” cyborgs will still participate in fights on the ground.

“The tasks that these agents would perform include filtering information, fact checking, fusion, dynamic access control, and adaptive information dissemination,” states a report on the workshop. “Automated processes will task sensors and alter communications paths and priorities based upon their (machine) understanding of mission intent and context.”

But human soldiers are not expected to be phased out entirely. Researchers predict that a small number of “super-human” cyborgs will still participate in fights on the ground.

Road to the Terminator

However, unlike human soldiers, robots are vulnerable to hacking, and hijacking an enemy’s combat units is a far more efficient tactic than destroying them. The researchers speculate that much of the warfare of the future will consist of duels between hackers trying to take over each others’ machines, and that an arms race between offensive and defensive cybersecurity measures will inevitably occur.

“Among the potential counters for dramatically increased automation of key battlefield processes, including spoofing and denial of service attacks for information-dependent processes,” the report states. “Counter-countermeasures include developing an increased ability to filter out extraneous and unauthenticated messages and a better understanding of how these automated processes work under various stresses and attacks so that they can be made more agile.”

The 20th century saw a dramatic transition in military intelligence where machine gathered data—from radars, photographs taken from spy planes, and satellite data—replaced the sensory data that humans could gather by themselves, and researchers expect the trend to continue deep into the 21st. Because machines often lack common sense that humans have, it’s expected that misinformation tactics that try to mislead the enemy will become increasingly common.

The endgame for robot warfare would be the creation of a robot that doesn’t need constant instruction from a human controller, making it less vulnerable to hacking.

The endgame for robot warfare would be the creation of completely autonomous robots that are more or less independent of their human controllers—a robot that doesn’t need constant instruction from a human controller could turn off communication with the outside world, making it less vulnerable to hacking.

“Countermeasures would involve increasing the agility of individual robots by enabling dynamic repurposing and/or building in an override feature that could be exercised by human controllers,” the report states.

In sum, the report etches a “natural” pathway for how autonomous killer robots could become widely used. They’re simply the necessary consequence of an arms race between different nation–states: automated weapons are superior to manual ones; automated weapons controlled remotely by humans are more hackable; autonomous machines that receive minimal outside input and communication are the least vulnerable to hacks; release the Terminator.

If you think that allowing swarms of autonomous killer machines to roam the earth sounds like a bad idea, you’re not a alone. This week, an open letter signed by tech luminaries like Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak as well as scientists like Stephen Hawkings implored the United Nations to pass restrictions on autonomous weapons, which are likened to a Pandora’s Box that could wreak havoc on the human race if development continues unchecked.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1678032-wars-of-the-future-will-be-fought-by-robots-and-hackers/feed/0Microsoft’s Free Windows 10 Giveaway: What That Meanshttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1677397-microsofts-free-windows-10-giveaway-what-that-means/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1677397-microsofts-free-windows-10-giveaway-what-that-means/#commentsTue, 28 Jul 2015 20:20:21 +0000Associated Press]]>SAN FRANCISCO—Microsoft’s new Windows 10 operating system debuts Wednesday, July 29, as the longtime leader in PC software hopes that giving the upgrade away for free will help it carve out a new role in a world where people increasingly …]]>

SAN FRANCISCO—Microsoft’s new Windows 10 operating system debuts Wednesday, July 29, as the longtime leader in PC software hopes that giving the upgrade away for free will help it carve out a new role in a world where people increasingly rely on smartphones, tablets, and information stored online.

The company is counting on tens or even hundreds of millions of people to download its latest release in the coming months. Many people will also get Windows 10 as part of new PCs. The launch will be accompanied by a global marketing campaign for an event the company hopes will be pivotal—both for its own future and for a vast audience of computer users around the world.

Windows 10 is coming to PCs and tablets first, but it’s also designed to run phones, game consoles, and even holographic headsets. It has new features, a streamlined Web browser called Edge and a desktop version of Cortana, the online assistant that is Microsoft’s answer to Google Now and Apple’s Siri.

Still, the company insists that Windows 10 will seem familiar to users of Windows 7, the six-year-old operating system still running on most PCs. Microsoft and PC makers want to erase the memory of the last big update, 2012’s Windows 8, which alienated many with its jarring, unwieldy design.

Microsoft skipped the name Windows 9, as if to distance itself further from the last release. While many analysts believe Windows 8 made sagging PC sales even worse, it’s unclear if Windows 10 will spur the industry back to growth.

Here’s a look at the launch and why it matters.

What Happens This Week?

Microsoft plans promotional events in several cities Wednesday, tied to a global ad campaign and a series of charitable donations. About 5 million people who enrolled in an earlier test program will be able to download Windows 10 right away.

The company is also offering Windows 10 as a free download, any time over the next year, to anyone who has the Home or Pro versions of Windows 7 or 8 (but not the Enterprise versions used by big organizations). Some people might not get it the first day; Microsoft says it will deliver downloads in waves, to ensure things go smoothly, but it hasn’t said how long that will take.

Retailers such as Best Buy, Staples, and Wal-Mart will have some desktops and laptops with Windows 10 already installed. More models are coming.

Why Is Microsoft Giving Windows 10 for Free?

The company wants to get the new software on as many devices as possible. Microsoft needs a large pool of users to convince independent programmers that it’s worth their time to build useful or entertaining apps for Windows 10 devices. Executives also believe that if people are exposed to the latest and best Windows, they’re more likely to try other Microsoft products on PCs and mobile devices.

CEO Satya Nadella says he wants to have 1 billion devices running Windows 10 in three years. Microsoft estimates there are 1.5 billion people who currently use some kind of Windows. Rather than charging them to upgrade, as Microsoft used to do, it’s embracing the free download model pioneered by Apple and Google.

How Will Microsoft Make Money?

Microsoft will still collect licensing fees from PC makers that install Windows 10 on new machines. In recent years, most consumers have waited until they bought a new computer to get the latest Windows. Microsoft also makes money from selling Windows and other software to large businesses and organizations.

In addition, Microsoft is counting on Windows 10 to spur more use of other services. Microsoft makes money from selling advertising for its Bing search engine, and Windows 10 comes with many apps that steer people to Bing. The company also collects fees from people who use premium versions of its Office software, OneDrive cloud storage, and Skype.

Why Does This Matter to Consumers?

Microsoft says Windows 10 is designed for the way people use computers today—with a faster Web browser and features that make it easier to start tasks on a PC and then switch to a hand-held device. (Apple and Google tout similar features in their software.)

Windows 10 also lets users log in with their face, iris, or thumbprint, instead of remembering passwords, though this works only with computers equipped with the right hardware.

Most PC users are still working with Windows 7, thanks to Windows 8’s unpopularity. But Microsoft plans to phase out maintenance and security support for Windows 7 over the next five years, and for Windows 8 by 2023, as it did with the older Windows XP. Still, there’s no need to panic about upgrading right away.

Why Is It Important to the Tech Industry?

The growth in mobile devices has caused PC sales to decline for more than three years, hurting manufacturers like Hewlett-Packard and companies like Microsoft and Intel, whose products are used with PCs.

Windows 10 won’t make people give up their hand-held gadgets, but it’s part of Nadella’s strategy to reposition Microsoft for a world where people use multiple devices. PC makers are hoping he succeeds.

Jeff Barney, who runs Toshiba’s consumer PC business, said the new software is easier to use than Windows 8 and will complement hardware advances in Toshiba’s newest machines. Although Barney isn’t expecting a big rush to stores Wednesday, “over time, I think we’re going to see a positive trend in sales.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1677397-microsofts-free-windows-10-giveaway-what-that-means/feed/0Is Secure ‘Golden Key’ for Government Agencies Even Possible?http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1647704-is-secure-golden-key-for-government-agencies-even-possible/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1647704-is-secure-golden-key-for-government-agencies-even-possible/#commentsTue, 28 Jul 2015 19:38:47 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Earlier this month, FBI Director James Comey said that the widespread use of encryption was a national security problem for the United States. In a blog post, he warned of the threat of “ISIL operators in Syria recruiting and tasking …]]>

Earlier this month, FBI Director James Comey said that the widespread use of encryption was a national security problem for the United States. In a blog post, he warned of the threat of “ISIL operators in Syria recruiting and tasking dozens of troubled Americans to kill people,” communicating using encrypted messaging apps.

“There is simply no doubt that bad people can communicate with impunity in a world of universal strong encryption,” Comey wrote.

It’s widely expected that Comey will push for the federal government to force private tech companies to create a “golden key,” a universal encryption backdoor that law enforcement agencies can use to monitor potential terrorist threats, an idea that Comey first raised in October.

The proposal has received a swift and vehement backlash from the private sector and the cybersecurity community, which has roundly denounced the “golden key” as an impractical concept, working only in the minds of those who don’t understand how cryptography works.

“There is no such thing as a golden backdoor that only one party can have access to, you would have to make it a weaker system, easier to compromise” said Brian Levine, director of cloud security at Syncplicity. “As you’re building a backdoor, a weakness, it will be eventually found, and that will allow the hackers in.”

As you’re building a backdoor, a weakness, it will be eventually found, and that will allow the hackers in.

— Brian Levine, director of cloud security, Syncplicity,

Levine said that the government’s existing track-record in managing cryptography is already bad enough, attributing the lower encryption algorithm standards introduced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to the government’s wish to make encryption easier to crack.

“People that are asking for this are from the government and from the legal community, they’re not proposing a specific technical solution,” Levine said.

Others are concerned that the creation of a central encryption database is just a ticking time-bomb, because it’s only a matter of time before such a central database is itself hacked.

Creating government accessible backdoors into encryption algorithms everyone uses is just asking for trouble, because now you’ve created a target for the bad guys to go after.

— Stu Sjouwerman, CEO, KnowBe4

“Creating government accessible backdoors into encryption algorithms everyone uses is just asking for trouble, because now you’ve created a target for the bad guys to go after,” said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4, a security company.

Sjouwerman said that humans are the “weak link” in IT security and that it’s inevitable for a large system of that kind to suffer from vulnerabilities sooner or later, and gave the example of how difficult such a project would be in comparison with the “Obamacare” websites, which experienced significant difficulties in the takeoff stage.

“That was only for health care and only for around 50 million people, [for a golden key] now you’re talking about hundreds of millions,” Sjouwerman said. “I honestly don’t think the FBI understands the feasibility challenges that a project like this actually has.”

The implementation of an encryption backdoor would likely have sweeping consequences beyond national security; it could precipitate a fragmentation of the Internet along nation–state lines.

“There’s already a significant blowback with Snowden, it’s increasingly clear that the U.S. government and its agencies have basically been owning the Internet from day one and have been monitoring everybody,” Sjouwerman said.

As a result, states could want to build their own systems.

“You run the risk of balkanizing the Internet, which was was built for open access,” Sjouwerman added.

The golden key proposal has also drawn criticism from former government insiders as well. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff inveighed against the idea in a talk last week at the Aspen Institute.

“I think that it’s a mistake to require companies that are making hardware and software to build a duplicate key or a back door even if you hedge it with the notion that there’s going to be a court order,” Chertoff said, stating that in addition to the heightened security vulnerabilities commonly addressed, “the really bad people are going to find apps and tools that are going to allow them to encrypt everything without a backdoor. These apps are multiplying all the time.”

In an open letter with hundreds of signatories, the experts argued that if any major military power pushes ahead with development of autonomous weapons, “a global arms race is virtually inevitable, and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow.”

Some critics have argued in favor of so-called “killer robots,” saying the use of robotics on the battlefield could save lives. Such weapons are still some years away.

But the scientists warned that, unlike nuclear weapons, once they are developed they will require no costly or hard-to-obtain raw materials — making it possible to mass-produce them.

“It will only be a matter of time until they appear on the black market and in the hands of terrorists, dictators wishing to better control their populace, warlords wishing to perpetrate ethnic cleansing, etc.,” the letter said.

The signatories included leading figures globally in academia and business studying artificial intelligence — the idea that computer systems could replicate tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as language translation or visual perception. They were joined by philosophers, historians, sociologists and geneticists, among others.

Those signing letter included Elon Musk, Tesla Motors CEO; Demis Hassabis, who founded Google DeepMind; and Noam Chomsky, an emeritus professor at MIT.

“We therefore believe that a military AI arms race would not be beneficial for humanity,” the letter concluded. “There are many ways in which AI can make battlefields safer for humans, especially civilians, without creating new tools for killing people.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1667190-scientists-worry-about-arms-race-in-artificial-intelligence/feed/0Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and Others Urge Ban on Killer Robotshttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1646413-elon-musk-stephen-hawking-and-others-urge-ban-on-killer-robots/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1646413-elon-musk-stephen-hawking-and-others-urge-ban-on-killer-robots/#commentsMon, 27 Jul 2015 20:20:13 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>A group of distinguished artificial intelligence researchers warned that the international community must place restrictions on the development of autonomous weapons before it’s too late to stop an “AI arms race.” In an open letter published by the Future of …]]>

A group of distinguished artificial intelligence researchers warned that the international community must place restrictions on the development of autonomous weapons before it’s too late to stop an “AI arms race.” In an open letter published by the Future of Life Institute (FLI) and signed by luminaries like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and Steve Wozniak, the researchers called for the United Nations to place “a ban on offensive autonomous weapons beyond meaningful human control.”

“If any major military power pushes ahead with AI [artificial intelligence] weapon development, a global arms race is virtually inevitable,” the letter states. “Autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow. Unlike nuclear weapons, they require no costly or hard-to-obtain raw materials, so they will become ubiquitous and cheap for all significant military powers to mass-produce.”

Autonomous weapons are ideal for tasks such as assassinations, destabilizing nations, subduing populations, and selectively killing a particular ethnic group.

— Text from an open letter, published by Future of Life Institute

The letter argues that the potential upsides of automated warfare—primarily fewer human casualties—would be overshadowed by the evils it could unleash, such as making nations more inclined to start conflicts in the first place.

“It will only be a matter of time until they appear on the black market and in the hands of terrorists, dictators wishing to better control their populace, warlords wishing to perpetrate ethnic cleansing, etc.,” the letter states. “Autonomous weapons are ideal for tasks such as assassinations, destabilizing nations, subduing populations, and selectively killing a particular ethnic group.”

The letter is part of a larger campaign by FLI to raise awareness about what it perceives to be the existential risk that AI could pose to humanity. Earlier this year, the institute gave out $7 million in research grants to AI researchers to brainstorm potential safeguards against a worst-case scenario where robots rise up against man.

A large number of grants were awarded to projects that dealt with the problem of how to create a system of ethics for artificial intelligence. A number of AI researchers believe that the emergence of a smarter-than-human superintelligence is inevitable and will almost certainly occur before the end of the century.

Not If, but When

For those researchers, the most important question is whether the emergence of a superintelligence happens within a window of time wide enough for the human race to develop the necessary countermeasures. In a hypothetical “hard takeoff,” the creation of a software program that can recursively improve itself would allow the cutting-edge AI to leap from below-human-level intelligence to above-human-level in a matter of days, too fast for humans to react.

Musk joins a growing number of public figures clamoring for safeguards against the machine threat.

Nick Bostrom, a researcher at the University of Oxford, has been instrumental in introducing the plausibility of such a scenario to the general public. His 2014 best seller “Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies” argues that humanity needs to start preparing for the “hard takeoff” scenario—he’s not predicting that it will happen, just that we should have a contingency plan—right now.

The book has made a convert of Musk, who said in late 2014 that AI was potentially more dangerous than atomic weapons. Earlier this year, Musk donated $10 million to the FLI, which has awarded $1.5 million to Bostrom to start a “joint Oxford–Cambridge research center” to make policy recommendations for governments, industry leaders, and other organizations to minimize the risk of AI.

Musk joins a growing number of public figures clamoring for safeguards against the machine threat. The celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking, a long-standing Cassandra on AI, is holding a question and answer on Reddit devoted specifically to the dangers of AI.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1646413-elon-musk-stephen-hawking-and-others-urge-ban-on-killer-robots/feed/0App Turns Smartphones Into Tools for Medical Researchhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1646640-app-turns-smartphones-into-tools-for-medical-research/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1646640-app-turns-smartphones-into-tools-for-medical-research/#commentsMon, 27 Jul 2015 15:16:02 +0000Associated Press]]>SAN FRANCISCO—Jody Kearns doesn’t like to spend time obsessing about her Parkinson’s disease. The 56-year-old dietitian from Syracuse, New York, had to give up bicycling because the disorder affected her balance. But she still works, drives and tries to live …]]>

SAN FRANCISCO—Jody Kearns doesn’t like to spend time obsessing about her Parkinson’s disease. The 56-year-old dietitian from Syracuse, New York, had to give up bicycling because the disorder affected her balance. But she still works, drives and tries to live a normal life.

Yet since she enrolled in a clinical study that uses her iPhone to gather information about her condition, Kearns has been diligently taking a series of tests three times a day. She taps the phone’s screen in a certain pattern, records a spoken phrase and walks a short distance while the phone’s motion sensors measure her gait.

“The thing with Parkinson’s disease is there’s not much you can do about it,” she said of the nervous-system disorder, which can be managed but has no cure. “So when I heard about this, I thought, ‘I can do this.'”

Smartphone apps are the latest tools to emerge from the intersection of health care and Silicon Valley, where tech companies are also working on new ways of bringing patients and doctors together online, applying massive computing power to analyze DNA and even developing ingestible “smart” pills for detecting cancer.

More than 75,000 people have enrolled in health studies that use specialized iPhone apps, built with software Apple Inc. developed to help turn the popular smartphone into a research tool. Once enrolled, iPhone owners use the apps to submit data on a daily basis, by answering a few survey questions or using the iPhone’s built-in sensors to measure their symptoms.

Scientists overseeing the studies say the apps could transform medical research by helping them collect information more frequently and from more people, across larger and more diverse regions, than they’re able to reach with traditional health studies.

A smartphone “is a great platform for research,” said Dr. Michael McConnell, a Stanford University cardiologist, who’s using an app to study heart disease. “It’s one thing that people have with them every day.”

While the studies are in early stages, researchers also say a smartphone’s microphone, motion sensors and touchscreen can take precise readings that, in some cases, may be more reliable than a doctor’s observations. These can be correlated with other health or fitness data and even environmental conditions, such as smog levels, based on the phone’s GPS locater.

Others have had similar ideas. Google Inc. says it’s developing a health-tracking wristband specifically designed for medical studies. Researchers also have tried limited studies that gather data from apps on Android phones.

But if smartphones hold great promise for medical research, experts say there are issues to consider when turning vast numbers of people into walking test subjects.

The most important is safeguarding privacy and the data that’s collected, according to ethics experts. In addition, researchers say apps must be designed to ask questions that produce useful information, without overloading participants or making them lose interest after a few weeks. Study organizers also acknowledge that iPhone owners tend to be more affluent and not necessarily an accurate mirror of the world’s population.

Apple had previously created software called HealthKit for apps that track iPhone owners’ health statistics and exercise habits. Senior Vice President Jeff Williams said the company wants to help scientists by creating additional software for more specialized apps, using the iPhone’s capabilities and vast user base — estimated at 70 million or more in North America alone.

“This is advancing research and helping to democratize medicine,” Williams said in an interview.

Apple launched its ResearchKit program in March with five apps to investigate Parkinson’s, asthma, heart disease, diabetes and breast cancer. A sixth app was released last month to collect information for a long-term health study of gays and lesbians by the University of California, San Francisco. Williams said more are being developed.

For scientists, a smartphone app is a relatively inexpensive way to reach thousands of people living in different settings and geographic areas. Traditional studies may only draw a few hundred participants, said Dr. Ray Dorsey, a University of Rochester neurologist who’s leading the Parkinson’s app study called mPower.

“Participating in clinical studies is often a burden,” he explained. “You have to live near where the study’s being conducted. You have to be able to take time off work and go in for frequent assessments.”

Smartphones also offer the ability to collect precise readings, Dorsey added. One test in the Parkinson’s study measures the speed at which participants tap their fingers in a particular sequence on the iPhone’s touchscreen. Dorsey said that’s more objective than a process still used in clinics, where doctors watch patients tap their fingers and assign them a numerical score.

Some apps rely on participants to provide data. Elizabeth Ortiz, a 48-year-old New York nurse with asthma, measures her lung power each day by breathing into an inexpensive plastic device. She types the results into the Asthma Health app, which also asks if she’s had difficulty breathing or sleeping, or taken medication that day.

“I’m a Latina woman and there’s a high rate of asthma in my community,” said Ortiz, who said she already used her iPhone “constantly” for things like banking and email. “I figured that participating would help my family and friends, and anyone else who suffers from asthma.”

None of the apps test experimental drugs or surgeries. Instead, they’re designed to explore such questions as how diseases develop or how sufferers respond to stress, exercise or standard treatment regimens. Stanford’s McConnell said he also wants to study the effect of giving participants feedback on their progress, or reminders about exercise and medication.

In the future, researchers might be able to incorporate data from participants’ hospital records, said McConnell. But first, he added, they must build a track record of safeguarding data they collect. “We need to get to the stage where we’ve passed the privacy test and made sure that people feel comfortable with this.”

Toward that end, the enrollment process for each app requires participants to read an explanation of how their information will be used, before giving formal consent. The studies all promise to meet federal health confidentiality rules and remove identifying information from other data that’s collected. Apple says it won’t have access to any data or use it for commercial purposes.

Some studies will always require in-person interaction or supervision by a doctor, experts say. But by reaching more people and gathering more data, advocates say smartphone apps can help doctors answer more subtle questions about a disease.

“Diseases like asthma are very complicated. They’re not caused by a single gene or environmental influence,” said Eric Schadt, a genomics professor who’s using an iPhone app to study asthma at New York’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “The only hope you have of really going further in resolving this disease is for researchers to get to more people.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1646640-app-turns-smartphones-into-tools-for-medical-research/feed/0Anonymous Hacktivists Threaten Canada With Leak of Classified Informationhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1599038-anonymous-hacktivists-threaten-canada-with-leak-of-classified-information/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1599038-anonymous-hacktivists-threaten-canada-with-leak-of-classified-information/#commentsSun, 26 Jul 2015 21:35:21 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Anonymous, a loosely organized group of hacktivists, is threatening to leak classified information from the Canadian government unless the police officer who shot a protester is named and arrested.

Anonymous, a loosely organized group of hacktivists, is threatening to leak classified information from the Canadian government unless the police officer who shot a protester is named and arrested.

Earlier this month, a knife-wielding protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, the uniform of Anonymous, was shot to death by police officers in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. In response, Anonymous took several websites of Canadian agencies down with DDoS attacks and has demanded that unless the officer who shot the protester is named and arrested by 5 p.m. PST on Monday, July 27, it will release sensitive, classified information that belongs to the Canadian government.

As proof of its threat, the hackers showed several documents from the Treasury Board of Canada to the National Post.

“This [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] officer must be named, fired, and charged—for the murder of our brother Anon,” an online note, which calls the campaign Operation Anon Down, reads. “And if we do not receive justice, rest assured there will be revenge.”

As proof of its threat, the hackers showed several documents from the Treasury Board of Canada to the National Post, although the Canadian government has refused to confirm or deny the authenticity of those documents.

Although Anonymous had been labeled as a hacking group, the lack of any organizational hierarchy or membership has led it to being called a collective or a subculture. The operations conducted by “Anonymous” didn’t originate from a central committee but rather from isolated hackers who decided to don themselves with the label and the mask.

Anonymous emerged as prominent online presence in 2008 with Project Chanology, a campaign, both online and off-line, that unleashed mayhem on the Church of Scientology. Since then, it’s had a string of successes—most notably the release of a key piece of evidence in the Steubenville rape trial and its take down of jihadi websites—and its fair share of duds.

Last year, the group incorrectly named the officer who had shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Two years before that, to bring awareness about the Stop Online Piracy Act, Anonymous threatened to shut down the entire Internet temporarily by DDoSing 13 root DNS servers, an impossible feat.

The ease with which anyone can take up the banner of Anonymous means that many of the supposed online campaigns are bound to be unfounded. In 2011, announcements of planned online attacks against Facebook, Fox News, and the Zeta drug cartel all failed to pan out.

However, evidence suggests that the group of hackers making the threats have longstanding ties with Anonymous. The YouTube account includes statements from the group stretching four years back—eons in internet years—and the latest operation has been endorsed by @YourAnonNews, the most popular Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account.

The account isn’t an official spokesperson for Anonymous by any means. Last week, it demanded that the Canadian police release the names of the officers who shot the protester, but an earlier note states that the hackers already have the name of the officer.

“To begin we will identify the RCMP officer involved, thoroughly dox him—and release that dox on the Internet. Because the world has a right to know every detail about killer cops,” an online note reads.

The name of the officer that shot the protester is still undisclosed.

This is a developing story. Please check back for more details.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1599038-anonymous-hacktivists-threaten-canada-with-leak-of-classified-information/feed/0Can Companies Keep the Valuable Minerals They Dig Up in Outer Space?http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1474218-can-companies-keep-the-valuable-minerals-they-dig-up-in-outer-space/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1474218-can-companies-keep-the-valuable-minerals-they-dig-up-in-outer-space/#commentsSat, 25 Jul 2015 10:00:07 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>The question over the ownership of outer space—all the other planets, asteroids, and stars—has a colorful history. By dent of its inaccessibility, outer space has been fertile ground for contradictory claims of ownership.

The question over the ownership of outer space—all the other planets, asteroids, and stars—has a colorful history. By dent of its inaccessibility, outer space has been fertile ground for contradictory claims of ownership.

A Canadian man once filed dozens of lawsuits in the 2000s staking his claim over different planets in the solar system and four of Jupiter’s moons. In the 18th century, Frederick the Great of Prussia once bequeathed the moon to a physician to compensate for the latter’s services.

In the past, there was no need to resolve the question of space ownership because of its practical irrelevance to humanity, but that’s about to change. Earlier this month, a mining prospector spacecraft was launched from the International Space Station to test its control systems and software in orbit.

The spacecraft, called the Arkyd 3, is the creation of Planetary Resources, a private company that wants to mine valuable minerals that are likely to be found on asteroids. The value of mineral riches on an individual asteroid can add up to hundreds of billions. And it’s not just precious metals like gold and platinum; a large fraction of the value stems from the water, which is far cheaper to harvest in outer space than sending it up on rockets.

After Arkyd 3 completes its three-month mission, Planetary Resources will conduct trial-runs of the Arkyd 6, which will be equipped with infrared sensors that can detect temperature differences in objects to identify sources of water and minerals on asteroids.

Even if Planetary Resources can successfully build machines that can mine gold on asteroids, it will have to find a way to keep that gold, an uncertain prospect because existing agreements and laws on outer space property rights are murky and untested.

Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty, an international agreement signed by more than a hundred countries, vaguely states, “The exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind.”

A cursory glance at history provides no better guidance: when different European nations made overlapping claims to areas in the New World, the disputes were settled by wars.

The legal framework being pushed by Congress is that of a first-come, first-served mentality: companies will be able to keep the minerals that they harvest, but can’t make territorial claims on parts of asteroids.

In May, the House passed the 2015 SPACE Act, which states, “Any asteroid resources obtained in outer space are the property of the entity that obtained such resources,” and would grant the Federal Aviation Administration the power to regulate such activities and resolve disputes between different mining companies, as per federal law.

But companies like Planetary Resources aren’t the only players in the space mineral game. China has its eyes on helium-3, an isotope rare on earth but abundant on the moon, a substance that could be invaluable in nuclear fusion reactors, which the Chinese Communist Party has heavily invested in.

Before Planetary Resources makes a move, it will likely have its lawyers sort out property rights issues with the appropriate agencies. After all, the company isn’t a pet-project of hobbyists, but a full-fledged project bankrolled by Silicon Valley titans like Google’s Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, and has attracted investors outside of tech, like Ross Perot and Richard Branson.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1474218-can-companies-keep-the-valuable-minerals-they-dig-up-in-outer-space/feed/0Could Social Media Stop the Next Terrorist Attack?http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1474051-could-social-media-stop-the-next-terrorist-attack/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1474051-could-social-media-stop-the-next-terrorist-attack/#commentsFri, 24 Jul 2015 11:19:24 +0000Associated Press]]>WASHINGTON—Social media giants including Twitter, Yahoo, Facebook and Google are pushing back against Senate legislation that would require them to alert federal authorities of any terrorist activity, according to industry and government officials.

In private meetings on Capitol Hill, industry

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WASHINGTON—Social media giants including Twitter, Yahoo, Facebook and Google are pushing back against Senate legislation that would require them to alert federal authorities of any terrorist activity, according to industry and government officials.

In private meetings on Capitol Hill, industry officials have told lawmakers and congressional staff that they already ban grisly content like beheadings and alert law enforcement if they suspect someone might get hurt, as soon as they are aware of a threat.

But tech officials also said they worry that the proposed legislation is too broad and would potentially put companies on the hook legally if they miss a tweet, video or blog that hints of an attack. They said the result would probably be a deluge of tips to law enforcement, making it tougher for the government to find more valuable information.

Those interviewed by The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing debate over the legislation.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who is backing the legislation, says requiring social media companies to tip off law enforcement to a pending terrorist attack makes sense.

“The FBI and the intelligence community have made it abundantly clear that the terrorist threat is severe and increasing, and that those directing, inspiring and carrying out attacks make heavy use of social media sites,” Feinstein told the AP in an emailed statement. “This provision will help get potentially actionable information to the agencies responsible for preventing attacks, without requiring companies to take any steps to monitor their sites they aren’t already taking.”

The tech industry in 2013 faced a public relations nightmare after former government analyst Edward Snowden leaked details of a massive government surveillance program that relied on their cooperation. Company officials said the law gave them no choice but to supply consumer data and comply with gag orders that prevented companies from talking about it. Still, many consumers and Internet activists were furious that U.S. businesses had enabled the government to spy on their customers, in some cases even charging the government administrative fees to do it.

Since then, the tech industry has led an aggressive public push to limit surveillance requests and increase transparency, adopting more sophisticated encryption techniques despite opposition from the Justice Department. Their primary argument has been that consumers won’t use technology they don’t trust, and that unnecessary surveillance would hurt the industry.

At the same time, popular social media sites have become instrumental in helping terrorist groups expand their influence, despite widespread industry policies against posting or promoting terrorist-related content.

The Islamic State group and similar groups have relied heavily on Twitter and Facebook to recruit followers, while militants post beheading videos on sites like Google’s YouTube, giving an image the chance to go viral before being shut down. In 2013, al-Shabab live tweeted its Westgate shopping mall massacre, opening up new feeds even after Twitter shut others down.

“This is not your grandfather’s al-Qaida,” FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee this month. “This is a group of people using social media to reach thousands and thousands of followers, find the ones who might be interested in committing acts of violence, and then moving them to an (end-to-end) encrypted messaging app.”

The same week as Comey’s testimony, the Senate Intelligence Committee endorsed Feinstein’s proposal that would require companies that spot terrorist activity on their networks to alert law enforcement.

Feinstein’s provision, part of the intelligence authorization bill that still has to be approved by the Senate, is almost identical to the law requiring companies to report child pornography. One exception is that Feinstein’s provision doesn’t say whether or how a company would be penalized if it fails to report terrorist activity, whereas a tech company can be fined for “knowingly and willfully” failing to report an image of child pornography.

Tech officials say determining what constitutes child pornography is easier to do because the process is more objective. A criminal photograph can be digitally analyzed and assigned a unique identifier that be used to find similar images across networks.

But oftentimes, determining terrorist activity requires more context. The image of an Islamic State flag, for example, could appear in a news article or video clip as well as terrorist propaganda.

Monika Bickert, head of policy management at Facebook, said the social media site shares the government’s goal of keeping terrorist content off the site.

“Our policies on this are crystal clear: We do not permit terrorist groups to use Facebook, and people are not allowed to promote or support these groups on Facebook,” she said. “We remove this terrorist content as soon as we become aware of it.”

The House didn’t include a similar provision in its version of the intelligence bill. A spokesman for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., declined to comment on the issue.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, said there’s “no question” the Islamic State group uses social media to disseminate propoganda and recruit fighters. Schiff, D-Calif., said Congress should work with the tech industry “to determine the most effective response.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1474051-could-social-media-stop-the-next-terrorist-attack/feed/0Chip Reflects Wi-Fi to Make Wearables Last Longerhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1473478-chip-reflects-wifi-to-make-wearables-last-longer/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1473478-chip-reflects-wifi-to-make-wearables-last-longer/#commentsFri, 24 Jul 2015 10:00:49 +0000Elizabeth Landau, Caltech/JPL]]>A new microchip could make the batteries in your high-tech wearables last longer.

Adrian Tang of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and M.C. Frank Chang at the University of California, Los Angeles, have been working on microchips for wearable devices that …

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A new microchip could make the batteries in your high-tech wearables last longer.

Adrian Tang of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and M.C. Frank Chang at the University of California, Los Angeles, have been working on microchips for wearable devices that reflect wireless signals instead of using regular transmitters and receivers. Their solution transmits information up to three times faster than regular WiFi.

“The idea is if the wearable device only needs to reflect the WiFi signal from a router or cell tower, instead of generate it, the power consumption can go way down (and the battery life can go way up),” Tang says.

Information transmitted to and from a wearable device is encoded as 1s and 0s, just like data on a computer. This needs to be represented somehow in the system the wearable device uses to communicate. When incoming energy is absorbed by the circuit, that’s a “0,” and if the chip reflects that energy, that’s a “1.”

This simple switch mechanism uses very little power and allows for the fast transfer of information between a wearable device and a computer, smart phone, tablet or other technology capable of receiving the data.

Send Video in a Few Seconds

The challenge for Tang and his colleagues is that the wearable device isn’t the only object in a room that reflects signals—so do walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, and whatever other objects happen to be around. The chip in the wearable device needs to differentiate between the real WiFi signal and the reflection from the background.

To overcome background reflections, Tang and Chang developed a wireless silicon chip that constantly senses and suppresses background reflections, enabling the WiFi signal to be transmitted without interference from surrounding objects.

The technologists have tested the system at distances of up to 20 feet (6 meters). At about 8 feet (2.5 meters), they achieved a data transfer rate of 330 megabits per second, which is about three times the current WiFi rate, using about a thousand times less power than a regular WiFi link.

“You can send a video in a couple of seconds, but you don’t consume the energy of the wearable device. The transmitter externally is expending energy—not the watch or other wearable,” Chang explains.

A base station and WiFi service are still required for the system to work. To compensate for the low power drain on the wearable device, the computer or other technology it’s communicating with must have a long battery life or else be plugged in. The router will experience more power usage, too.

In the Hospital or in Space

The next challenge for the engineers will be to examine this problem, so it doesn’t hike up the user’s power bill.

There are a multitude of potential applications for this technology, including in space. For example, astronauts and robotic spacecraft could potentially use this technology to transmit images at a lower cost to their precious power supplies. This might also allow more images to be sent at a time.

Wearable devices are a hot topic in medicine, too. Some doctors envision that wearables will become essential for monitoring vital signs such as blood pressure and heart rhythm. Such innovations could detect problems early, save lives, and avoid costly hospital admissions.

The patent application for this technology is jointly owned by the California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for NASA, and UCLA. There are agreements in place for the commercialization of the technology.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1473478-chip-reflects-wifi-to-make-wearables-last-longer/feed/0California Wants to Allow Firefighters to Destroy Drones. Is It Legal?http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1473238-california-wants-to-allow-firefighters-to-destroy-drones-is-it-legal/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1473238-california-wants-to-allow-firefighters-to-destroy-drones-is-it-legal/#commentsThu, 23 Jul 2015 22:20:29 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Last month, firefighters in Southern California had their mission interrupted by a stray drone, which blocked the aerial path of a plane carrying gallons of flame-retardant to the site of a forest fire, delaying efforts to quell the forest fire …]]>

Last month, firefighters in Southern California had their mission interrupted by a stray drone, which blocked the aerial path of a plane carrying gallons of flame-retardant to the site of a forest fire, delaying efforts to quell the forest fire and costing the department $15,000.

The department presumably turned back its airplane because it’s illegal to damage someone’s drone, even if you have good cause. To avoid future disruptions of firefighting activity, California state senators introduced a bill this week that would give firefighters the legal prerogative to disable or destroy civilian drones when necessary.

The bill would also grant drone-incapacitating privileges to air ambulance operators and those on search-and-rescue missions. It states that hopefully “jamming” technology will allow for drones to be disabled with minimal damage, and that “warnings and public education efforts could ensure that the safest, least-damaging methods for avoiding or disabling unauthorized drones will be the primary methods used in these crises.”

“I don’t want these brave men and women worrying about frivolous lawsuits or consulting their legal departments when they are in the middle of life-or-death missions,” state Sen. Ted Gaines said in a statement.

Even if California were to pass such legislation, however, it still wouldn’t rule out the possibility that local governments might be held responsible for destroying someone’s drone. The state law could always be challenged and ruled unconstitutional in a federal court.

“[Drone owners] can ask if this statute violates the Fourth Amendment, they have property rights,” said Norm Pattis, who heads his own law firm in New Haven, Conn. “The decision to destroy the drone would amount to a seizure or destruction of property.”

In theory, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can issue regulations that override state statutes regarding drones, but it’s unlikely that the agency would take such action.

The Fourth Amendment does include exemptions for the destruction of property in emergency situations, which would likely apply in the case of firefighters pursuing an urgent conflagration, but like all powers, the right to destroy civilian drones has the potential of being abused.

Pattis compares the legal status of drones to that of automobiles more than a century ago, when the machine was still an unknown quantity and existed in a state of legal limbo.

“When automobiles first began to take to the road, they were used only by pedestrians; suddenly people traveling on their own feet had to make room for these four wheeled things,” Pattis said. “The issues that were going to arise were not at all clear … [eventually] a very comprehensive body of accident law developed to compensate people for injuries.”

Unlike automobiles, drones, which can easily be used to spy on your neighbors, will also pose privacy issues that have few technological precedents. As of 2015, 45 states have considered 153 bills related to drone regulations, and 17 states have already passed legislation on the matter, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Pattis expects that drones will undergo the same process experienced by what are now well-worn technologies: legislators will over-regulate the technology, and the unnecessary laws will be modified or removed in court.

“Every time there’s a new problem we get 15 different laws that will clog up the rule books, and they’ll get challenged,” Pattis said. “That’s good news for lawyers.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1473238-california-wants-to-allow-firefighters-to-destroy-drones-is-it-legal/feed/0Michigan Now Has a Fake City to Test Self-Driving Carshttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1471187-michigan-now-has-a-fake-city-to-test-self-driving-cars/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1471187-michigan-now-has-a-fake-city-to-test-self-driving-cars/#commentsWed, 22 Jul 2015 21:43:47 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Autonomous vehicles promise great things: fewer accidents, less congested roads, and freeing up hours each day for erstwhile drivers. But as with any new robot technology, self-driving cars also face an anxious public concerned about software-fueled road fatalities.

Testing has …

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Autonomous vehicles promise great things: fewer accidents, less congested roads, and freeing up hours each day for erstwhile drivers. But as with any new robot technology, self-driving cars also face an anxious public concerned about software-fueled road fatalities.

Testing has been hitherto limited to selected areas in California and the Nevada highways, far away from densely populated cities that are too complex for the cars to safely navigate. Soon, however, the new technology will have a chance to cut its teeth navigating in an urban environment—it just won’t be real.

This week, Mcity, a 32-acre testing ground for self-driving cars, opened for business. The facility provides a detailed simulation of urban and suburban environments—intersections, sidewalks, traffic signals, and moveable building facades but also graffiti-stained road signs, faded lane markings, and more—all in a human-free paper town.

Mcity was built for $10 million by the University of Michigan, in partnership with car companies (Toyota, Nissan) and non-automakers (Verizon, Xerox) alike. The facility is slated to be open for use by anyone, but priority is given to the University’s partners and students.

A map of Mcity (University of Michigan)

“There are many challenges ahead as automated vehicles are increasingly deployed on real roadways,” Peter Sweatman, director of the university’s Mobility Transformation Center, said in a statement. “Mcity is a safe, controlled, and realistic environment where we are going to figure out how the incredible potential of connected and automated vehicles can be realized quickly, efficiently and safely.”

In Mcity, self-driving cars can be subject to a battery of different stimuli that will scrutinize the car’s full-range of capabilities and weaknesses, from being able to smoothly edge along a blind corner to skating across gravel and brick roads; navigating using satellite-data blocked by trees and tunnels; and driving in roundabouts and four-way intersections.

Street sign in Mcity (University of Michigan)

The environment will also allow researchers to experiment with groups of autonomous vehicles driving “platoon” in an organization formation, a must if our freeways are to avoid congestion. A coordinated group of self-driving cars should be able to safely leave far less space between individual vehicles, allowing for more efficient use of scarce road space.

The Mobility Transformation Center is working on projects that will connect 9,000 vehicles across the Ann Arbor area, and is working with the state’s Department of Transportation to create a 20,000 car platoon in southeast Michigan.

Even though companies like Google haven’t built a custom terrain to test their autonomous cars, they’ve found other creative ways to explore quirks in the new technology. Around their headquarters in Mountain View, California, Google has had people hide in bags and jump out to surprise the cars and they’ve thrown beach balls at vehicles see how the sensors deal with distraction.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1471187-michigan-now-has-a-fake-city-to-test-self-driving-cars/feed/0Even Apple Loyalists Taking Their Time on Apple Watchhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1471503-even-apple-loyalists-taking-their-time-on-apple-watch/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1471503-even-apple-loyalists-taking-their-time-on-apple-watch/#commentsWed, 22 Jul 2015 18:52:39 +0000Associated Press]]>NEW YORK — For all those who hailed the iPhone as the “Jesus Phone” in 2007, the Apple Watch’s arrival has hardly been the second coming.

Sure, it can do many useful, even delightful things, such as showing incoming texts …

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NEW YORK — For all those who hailed the iPhone as the “Jesus Phone” in 2007, the Apple Watch’s arrival has hardly been the second coming.

Sure, it can do many useful, even delightful things, such as showing incoming texts and email, tracking heart rates during exercise or sending digital doodles to friends. But is that enough to spend $350 or more, especially when it requires wearing a watch again while still carrying an iPhone around?

Early Apple Watch owners seem generally happy with it, but Apple’s bigger worry should be those on the sidelines — even hardcore Apple fans, not to mention everybody else — who are waiting to take the plunge.

I’m kind of waiting to see what next year’s model will bring.

— Matt Quick

The wait-and-see attitude is not exactly helping investor sentiment. Apple hasn’t released Apple Watch sales figures, but the company’s quarterly financial report Tuesday suggests that they were lower than many Wall Street analysts expected, though Apple said they exceeded internal projections.

A bigger worry for investors: iPhone sales, which at $31 billion account for more than half of Apple’s business.

IPhone sales are still growing rapidly, but the pace of growth is slowing. Worries about the iPhone’s momentum sent Apple’s stock down nearly 5 percent, knocking about $36 billion off the company’s market capitalization.

Among people holding off on the watch, some say they are waiting for early kinks to be worked out and others, for an “aha moment.”

“It’s been cast as a want, not a need,” said Matt Quick, a Topeka, Kansas, engineer and Apple fan who is holding off on getting one. “I’m kind of waiting to see what next year’s model will bring.”

Patrick Clayton, who has had Mac computers all his life and owns an iPhone and several iPads, returned his Apple Watch after three weeks. The last straw? It nagged the physically active New Yorker to stand up during a six-hour flight.

“Apple is famous for telling us what we need before we need them,” Clayton said. “I thought this would be the case with the watch. But it (just) added something to my life that I didn’t need added.”

That’s not to say the Apple Watch is a bomb. For one, it’s too soon to tell. Expectations are so high that it’s easy to forget, as Apple said, that the watch actually sold better in its first 9 weeks than the iPhone and the iPad did when those came out.

Most analysts and tech reviewers, including The Associated Press, see promise, especially compared with rival smartwatches from Samsung and others. Wristly, a research company created to study the watch, found that early buyers are overwhelmingly satisfied, more so than with the original iPad and iPhone.

And of the more than a dozen early Apple Watch owners interviewed by the AP by phone, email or in person, most of them love their watch. After all, early adopters of new technologies tend to understand that what they’re getting isn’t perfect.

“I’d recommend it to people with an open mind,” said Dennis Falkenstein of Danville, California. He said the watch gets him “everything I want” such as local temperature, or the current time in Japan, where many of his business clients are.

But even so, there’s a long wish list, including smarter apps. Apple is already addressing some of this with a software update this fall. Falkenstein would also like to see the battery life improve from the 18 hours that’s currently promised.

Apple has run television commercials showing the watch in everyday life, and it has devoted tables at its retail stores for people to try one on and learn more.

Connected wirelessly to an iPhone, the Apple Watch isn’t meant to replace the phone, but rather provide tidbits of information readily while the phone is in a pocket or purse. There’s no keyboard, so searches and messages are done by voice dictation or the selection of a canned response. You can also send doodles and emoji.

David Lubarsky, a Fairfield, Connecticut, photographer, loves that he can get “basic information, quick” and avoid staring at Facebook on the phone all day. It lets him see texts, emails, calendar appointments and baseball scores.

But he gets frustrated when using it to pay for coffee at Starbucks.

“Your wrist doesn’t necessarily twist to the right position to the scanner so it’s pretty awkward,” he said.

Apple Watch also doesn’t always provide the right information at the right time. The watch version of one transit app offers bus schedules for your saved locations — even if they are far away — rather than the stops closest to you at the moment, as the phone app does. As for message notifications, it’s great when it’s from someone you want to hear from — but annoying when it’s not.

Apps will get better when Apple updates the watch’s software this fall to permit more “native” apps — those that aren’t just extensions of phone apps. Some apps could even work without the phone nearby, including games, audio recorders and tools that analyze golf swings.

Apple also needs to ensure that the watch gets the types of essential “killer apps” that propelled the iPhone into an extension of ourselves. For now, it’s sometimes easier to just pull out the phone, and there’s no app you absolutely need the watch for. With phones, you now have maps, cameras and other essentials.

It might be hard to remember, but the first iPhone in 2007 was just a little more than a phone. Apps from outside companies didn’t come until Apple launched its app store the following year — with just 500 apps. Now, it has more than a million. At first, iPhone apps were dumbed-down versions of websites. Now many apps, such as Instagram, do more than what’s possible over Web browsers.

Apple Watch doesn’t subject owners to ridicule the way Google Glass had, yet it’s still, in essence, a computer on your wrist. Yes, the Apple Watch comes in multiple sizes, materials and bands — 54 configurations in all — and other companies sell additional bands. But the watch isn’t stylish enough for everyone and won’t match every outfit.

The watch could ultimately be more than just a Rolex for the tech-savvy set. But for that to happen, Apple needs to show how the benefits of wearing a watch outweigh the hassles of wearing a watch.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1471503-even-apple-loyalists-taking-their-time-on-apple-watch/feed/0Strong iPhone Sales; Apple Stock Down With Few Watch Detailshttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1470467-strong-iphone-sales-apple-stock-down-with-few-watch-details/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1470467-strong-iphone-sales-apple-stock-down-with-few-watch-details/#commentsWed, 22 Jul 2015 00:32:09 +0000Associated Press]]>SAN FRANCISCO—Apple’s latest financial report shows iPhone sales are still surging, driven partly by growth in China. But it also contains hints that Apple’s much-vaunted smartwatch may not be selling as fast as Wall Street expected.

The California tech giant …

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SAN FRANCISCO—Apple’s latest financial report shows iPhone sales are still surging, driven partly by growth in China. But it also contains hints that Apple’s much-vaunted smartwatch may not be selling as fast as Wall Street expected.

The California tech giant sold more than 47.5 million iPhones during the three months ending in June, or 35 percent more than a year ago. That sent Apple’s profit soaring nearly 38 percent for the quarter, to $10.7 billion.

But a lukewarm forecast for the current period, combined with uncertainty over the new Apple Watch, helped drive Apple shares down more than 6 percent in late trading Tuesday night.

While the iPhone is the engine of Apple’s current success, many analysts and investors see the sleek new smartwatch as an important indicator of the company’s ability to produce new products. CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday that watch sales outpaced initial sales of the iPhone and iPad during the first nine weeks after their launch.

Apple has previously said it sold 1 million iPhones in the first 74 days, or more than 10 weeks, after sales began in 2007. Apple has said it sold 2 million iPads in the first 60 days, with iPad sales hitting 3 million in 80 days after the iPad was launched in 2010. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected Apple to sell 4 million watches in the quarter.

Cook, however, declined to be more specific, saying he didn’t want to give Apple’s competitors any insights into the new product.

“Sales of the watch did exceed our own forecasts,” Cook told analysts on a conference call, adding that demand outpaced supply in the early weeks. He said watch sales in June were greater than in May or April, when the watch first became available.

Some analysts noted that Apple reported $2.6 billion in revenue from the company’s “Other Products” segment, which includes the watch. That’s about $952 million more than the previous quarter, when the watch had not yet gone on sale, or significantly less than the $1.8 billion in watch sales that analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting.

But Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told The Associated Press that revenue from the watch amounted to “well over” that $952 million increase. He said the watch sales were offset by declining revenue from iPods and accessories, which are also lumped into that segment.

Apple’s quarterly revenue from all sources grew 33 percent from last year to $49.6 billion in the April-June quarter, with the iPhone contributing $31.4 billion in sales. Net income climbed nearly 38 percent to $10.7 billion, while earnings amounted to $1.85 per share.

Apple’s quarterly revenue from all sources grew 33 percent from last year to $49.6 billion in the April-June quarter.

That beat the estimates of Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet, who were expecting Apple to report earnings of $1.81 per share on sales of $49.25 billion.

Apple got a big boost from new markets like China, which contributed more than a quarter of the company’s revenue, or $13.2 billion. China sales more than doubled from a year ago.

The company is also benefiting from its decision to offer bigger screens with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which is helping to lure consumers away from competing phone makers that started selling bigger-screen devices a few years earlier.

Apple sold more iPhones than the 47 million expected, on average, by analysts surveyed by FactSet. But in a sign of Wall Street’s high expectations, some analysts said they were looking for sales of up to 49 million.

Analysts also worry about whether Apple can sustain its recent growth. In the coming months, it will face more difficult comparisons against the surge in sales that followed the iPhone 6 launch last September.

The company said Tuesday that it’s expecting between $49 billion and $51 billion in revenue for the quarter ending in September. The mid-point of that range is below the average analyst estimate of $50.8 billion.

Meanwhile, many Apple-watchers were keen to hear more about the company’s newest gadget. While not expected to be a major revenue source now, the Apple Watch has symbolic importance as the first new product category that Apple has launched since the 2011 death of co-founder and iconic CEO Steve Jobs.

“When you look at the next big wave of innovation, in coming years, it’s not going to come from smartphones,” said analyst Angelo Zino of S&P Capital Markets, who said phones are already becoming “commodity” items, even with Apple dominating the high end of that market. “So a lot of people want to see if Apple can roll out a new product that’s very successful and innovative.

Maestri acknowledged that Apple has released detailed sales figures for other products, but he said the company wanted “to be careful” with information about the watch, to avoid tipping competitors as Apple learns more about consumer demand for a new product.

“We know that, for us to be successful, we need to innovate all the time,” he added. “But when you look at what we’ve launched in the last 12 months, I think you can conclude that we’re in great shape from the innovation standpoint.”

Besides the Apple Watch, Apple has released new models of other devices and launched its Apple Pay electronic payments service last fall and a streaming music service this month.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1470467-strong-iphone-sales-apple-stock-down-with-few-watch-details/feed/0Robot-Assisted Surgery Rising, but Far From Perfecthttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1469653-robot-assisted-surgery-rising-but-far-from-perfect/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1469653-robot-assisted-surgery-rising-but-far-from-perfect/#commentsWed, 22 Jul 2015 00:02:58 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Between 2000 and 2013, robotic equipment played a role in 144 surgery-related deaths in the United States, according to an analysis of records kept by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The findings were first presented at the annual meeting …

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Between 2000 and 2013, robotic equipment played a role in 144 surgery-related deaths in the United States, according to an analysis of records kept by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The findings were first presented at the annual meeting of the The Society of Thoracic Surgeons as a retrospective on the state of robotic surgery.

First approved by the FDA in 2000, the use of robots in surgery has risen dramatically in the past decade, with 1.7 million procedures completed between 2007 and 2013. For example, robotic systems took part in only 0.5 percent of hysterectomies—removal of the uterus—in 2007; that figure jumped to 9.5 percent in 2010.

The use of robots in surgery has risen dramatically in the past decade, with 1.7 million procedures completed between 2007 and 2013.

Gynecology and urology accounted for the vast majority of robotic procedures at 86 percent. The remaining 14 percent occurred in four other major surgical specialties: general, colorectal, cardiothoracic, and head and neck surgery.

The study looked at all the reported adverse events related to robotic surgical systems collected by the FDA, numbering 10,624 in total. The 144 deaths, therefore, account for 1.4 percent of problem situations.

Of those deaths, 60 percent were attributed to machine error, 33 percent to the inherent risks of surgery, and 7 percent to human error.

The specific death-inducing malfunctions were not described in the FDA data, but the breakdown of more than 8,000 different machine errors gives us a glimpse of what they might be.

The most common specific errors were “broken pieces falling” into the patient (15 percent), followed by burns, tears, and electric overheating (10 percent) and random movements (10 percent). Around half of the errors fell into the “other category,” which includes pedestrian problems like power outages.

Robots are normally deployed in laparoscopic surgeries, where a small incision is made at a distance from the targeted organ, and the surgeons operate with remote visual data provided by an inserted camera, called an endoscope. This method, also known as minimally invasive surgery, boasts less blood loss and shorter recovery time than open surgeries that often require wide cuts across the abdomen.

The most common errors were “broken pieces falling” into the patient, followed by burns, tears, and electric overheating.

Traditional laparoscopic operations present a technical challenge for the surgeon: they have to handle lengthy tools, which require great precision and they lose the flexibility of adjusting tools with their wrists. Also the video feed can often be confusing since moving left is shown as moving right on the screen.

A picture shows surgical tools of the ‘Da Vinci Xi’ surgical robot manipulating a model as it carries out a demonstration during its presentation on November 26, 2014 in Villejuif, south of Paris. (FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images)

Automated instruments provide a number of advantages in laparoscopic surgeries: the robotic arm can be more intuitively operated because it can be adjusted to move in the same direction as shown on the endoscope monitor; the endoscope is more stable; and robotic systems can often provide more accurate imagery.

The report did not make a comparison of the risk involved in robotic surgeries with that of traditional laparoscopic or open surgeries, but previous studies have found that robotic surgeries were no safer than conventional laparoscopic operations.

A 2013 study of more than a quarter million hysterectomy patients found that while robotic surgery offered a shorter recovery time for patients—only 20 percent stayed in the hospital for more than two days, as opposed to 25 percent for those who had a traditional laparoscopic removal—the complication rate was the same 5 percent.

Robotic surgeries did cost significantly more than traditional laparoscopic surgeries, averaging $8,868 to the latter’s $6,651. Purchasing a single Da Vinci surgical system can add up to more than $2 million after add-ons.

Intuitive Surgical Inc., the company that makes the da Vinci Xi surgical system used by most hospitals, told the Wall Street Journal that it doesn’t matter if robotic systems don’t make a marked improvement in safety because they are easier to use, thus allowing more women to get hysterectomies.

Another 2013 study of more than 2,000 hysterectomy patients found that those who had a robot-assisted operation had a lower chance of readmission (1 percent) than patients who had undergone traditional laparoscopic operation (2.5 percent), although the authors did not say whether that was enough to recuperate the heightened cost of robot-assisted surgery.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1469653-robot-assisted-surgery-rising-but-far-from-perfect/feed/0YouTube Is Back With a Vengeance and Is Now More Popular Than Cablehttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1468408-youtube-is-back-with-a-vengeance-and-is-now-more-popular-than-cable/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1468408-youtube-is-back-with-a-vengeance-and-is-now-more-popular-than-cable/#commentsMon, 20 Jul 2015 16:48:04 +0000Yoni Heisler]]>

During Google’s recent earnings conference call, Google chief business officer Omid Kordestani said that YouTube is now bigger than any individual US cable network when it comes to attracting 18-49 year olds, advertising’s most sought after demographic.

Despite YouTube’s apparent

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During Google’s recent earnings conference call, Google chief business officer Omid Kordestani said that YouTube is now bigger than any individual US cable network when it comes to attracting 18-49 year olds, advertising’s most sought after demographic.

Despite YouTube’s apparent inability to generate much of a profit, the popular video sharing site has seen user engagement metrics skyrocket in recent months. Speaking to this, Kordestani relayed that viewers are spending more time watching YouTube videos than ever before.

Year over year, the amount of time users, on average, spend watching videos is up an impressive 60%. Underscoring this tremendous growth, Kordestani added that this is the fastest growth rate in viewing time YouTube has seen in over two years.

As one would expect, the increase in viewing hours is mostly attributable to mobile devices. In the last year alone, the average time mobile users spent watching YouTube clips more than doubled. More to the point, the average time users spend watching YouTube videos on mobile devices now checks in at 40 minutes.

The takeaway from this is that YouTube has successfully transformed itself from a site where users go to watch one-off videos into a site where users stick around for nearly an hour. Of course, this is no happy accident.

Over the past few years, Google has rolled out a number of varying site enhancements in an effort to increase the site’s ‘stickiness’. From suggested videos to auto-playing of new videos following the conclusion of another, Google’s experimentations are clearly paying dividends.

“The number of users coming to YouTube, who start at the YouTube homepage similar to the way they might turn on their TV, is up over three times year-on-year,” Kordestani said. “Plus once users are in YouTube, they are spending more time per session watching videos.”

What’s especially interesting is that YouTube has taken on an entirely new identity in the eyes of young children.

For younger users especially, YouTube is already equivalent to TV. According to a recent study from Miner & Co., TV is no longer the first choice for kids’ entertainment with 57 percent of parents reporting that their child prefers mobile devices to TV when it comes to video viewing. Additionally, 58 percent of kids in households with tablets have their own device, the study also discovered, and half the kids, when disciplined, will have their tablet taken away and are left “only” with TV.

That has created a generation of kids for whom “TV is punishment,” the firm noted.

Ah, to be a kid again.

While all of this is promising, the question of profitability still looms overhead. Back in 2014, YouTube generated about $4 billion in revenue for Google while not contributing much in the way to the company’s bottom line. When asked about YouTube’s 2015 profitability during last week’s earnings conference call, Google executives were tellingly mum on the issue.

That said, the increased user engagement YouTube is enjoying can only help shift things in the right direction. Speaking to this point, Google did note that the number of advertisers running video ads is up 40% year over year. Additionally, the search giant said that many of its top advertisers are spending 60% more on YouTube advertising than they were last year.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1468408-youtube-is-back-with-a-vengeance-and-is-now-more-popular-than-cable/feed/06 Brilliant Siri Tricks You Didn’t Know Existedhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1468356-6-brilliant-siri-tricks-you-didnt-know-existed/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1468356-6-brilliant-siri-tricks-you-didnt-know-existed/#commentsMon, 20 Jul 2015 16:38:27 +0000Yoni Heisler]]>When Apple first introduced Siri back in 2011, it was an interesting concept plagued by limited functionality. But in typical fashion, Apple over the years has quietly bestowed upon Siri all sorts of cool, unique, and interesting talents.

Equally as …

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When Apple first introduced Siri back in 2011, it was an interesting concept plagued by limited functionality. But in typical fashion, Apple over the years has quietly bestowed upon Siri all sorts of cool, unique, and interesting talents.

Equally as important, Siri’s overall speed and ability to parse language has increased dramatically in just the last two years alone.

For anyone who was lukewarm on Siri and turned the feature off , it might be time to give it another shot. Believe it or not, Siri has actually become quite useful, a fact which some might find surprising given that the feature only tends to make headlines when it offers up a whimsical, offbeat, or controversial response.

Well, it’s time to give Siri some credit where credit is due. To start out, we’ve compiled a list of six cool Siri commands that you probably didn’t know existed. Some are old, some are new, but they’re all worth giving a spin.

1. Siri Can Check Twitter in a Jiffy

If you want to see what one person or site in particular has been saying on Twitter, you could fire up the Twitter app and then navigate on over to a specific Twitter account. Or, you could save a step and simply ask Siri, “What is (insert Twitter name here) saying?”

Siri, in a heartbeat, will return the queried Twitter account’s 10 most recent tweets.

Here are two quick examples.

Let’s see what’s going on at BGR.

(BGR)

But wait, there’s more!

Not only can Siri understand Twitter handles, it can also understand Twitter names. For example, LeBron James’ Twitter handle is @KingJames. If you don’t know that off hand, you can just as easily ask Siri “What is Lebron James saying?” and it will still be able to return you James’ 10 most recent tweets.

(BGR)

This tip is especially useful for Twitter users who follow a lot of people but want to quickly check in on an account or two without getting lost amidst a sea of Tweets.

2. Tell Siri to “Take a Selfie”

Is there a more horrid word in the English language than ‘selfie’? The thing is, people have been taking photos of themselves for years, yet somehow along the way, we decided to start calling such photos selfies as if they represented a completely new medium of photography. But I digress.

If you want to quickly open up your iPhone’s camera app, simply tell Siri to “Take a Selfie” and, wallah!, the camera app will open right up. It’s a nifty little command, albeit with one minor hiccup. When the camera app opens up, the camera orientation is where it last left off. You’d think that the camera app, with a selfie command of all things, would open up with the front facing camera enabled by default. Oh well, perhaps Apple will get around to dealing with that tomfoolery in iOS 12.

3. Get Directions in a Snap

(BGR)

Admittedly, using Apple Maps or Google Maps to get directions isn’t too cumbersome of a process. Still, using Siri for all of your navigation needs can make things a bit more efficient. As mentioned earlier, Siri is remarkably good at understanding diction, a talent which makes saying an address aloud much quicker than having to type it in by hand.

To make use of this feature, simply tell Siri to “Get Directions to (insert address here)” and Apple Maps will launch right before your eyes. Notably, you can simply speak an address without having to specify the city.

4. Find Out What Song is Playing

Shazam is amazing, but it’s hard to deny that the app has become a bit of a cluttered mess in recent years. The following customer review of Shazam, ranked as the “Most Helpful” on the App Store, is right on the money:

“This app used to be so handy. If you heard a song that you liked during a movie of whatever, you could quickly load this app and it would tell you the song and artist. Magic! Often times theres limited opportunity to do this because they never play the full song in movies. Load this app nowadays and popups and clutter and dumb options that slow the whole process down, causing you to miss your opportunity to “Shazam” the song in the first place…”

Coming to the rescue is Siri. Simply ask “What song is this?” and Siri, with some help from Shazam behind the scenes, will tell you what’s playing. If you click on the search result, the song will begin playing in Apple Music if you’re a subscriber or on a free trial period.

(BGR)

Now we don’t want to throw Shazam completely under the bus, so it’s worth noting that using Shazam does provide users with more options, such as the ability to share the song, view song lyrics and much more. Still, if you’re looking for a quick and no frills approach to figuring out what that mysterious song playing overhead is, this Siri command is well worth keeping in mind.

5. Get Movie Plot Synopses

Curious what that new movie everyone is talking about is, well, about? Simply ask Siri “What is (insert movie name here)” and a plot synopsis will come right up. Additionally, Siri offers up a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score (along with a link to notable reviews) along with “Buy” and “Rent” buttons which, when tapped, will take you right to the iTunes Store.

(BGR)

6. Find Out What Planes Are Flying Overhead

This Siri command may not be all that practical, but it’s still pretty cool. If you ask Siri, “What planes are flying overhead?”, Siri will take stock of your current location and map it against some mysterious flight database (read: the FAA) whereupon it will return some interesting flight information. This particular feature is powered by Wolfram Alpha.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1468356-6-brilliant-siri-tricks-you-didnt-know-existed/feed/0Hackers Threaten to Expose 37 Million Users of Adultery Website Ashley Madisonhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1468152-hackers-threaten-to-expose-37-million-users-of-adultery-website-ashley-madison/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1468152-hackers-threaten-to-expose-37-million-users-of-adultery-website-ashley-madison/#commentsMon, 20 Jul 2015 14:12:27 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Ashley Madison, the premiere dating website for married people looking to cheat on their spouse, experienced a major data-breach this weekend, and the hackers threaten release the private information for all 37 million of its users unless the website shuts …]]>

Ashley Madison, the premiere dating website for married people looking to cheat on their spouse, experienced a major data-breach this weekend, and the hackers threaten release the private information for all 37 million of its users unless the website shuts itself down.

A group of hackers going by “The Impact Team” took the user information for all 40 million members on the Avid Life Media (ALM) network, which also includes Cougar Life and Established Men, according to Krebs on Security. The hackers have already dumped the bank account numbers and salaries of ALM’s employees onto the web, along with samples of user data selected at random.

The hackers threaten to release the complete cache of user data for Ashley Madison and Established Men—”secret sexual fantasies,” credit card numbers, and names and addresses—unless ALM agrees to shut down the two websites.

“We’ve got the complete set of profiles in our DB dumps, and we’ll release them soon if Ashley Madison stays online,” The Impact Team said, according to Krebs. “With over 37 million members, mostly from the U.S. and Canada, a significant percentage of the population is about to have a very bad day, including many rich and powerful people.”

A message from Impact Team (Krebs on Security)

The hackers appears to have been motivated by Ashley Madison’s unscrupulous business practices rather than a desire to unmask cheaters. The website added a data-swipe feature that promised to clear all “personally identifiable information,” but the data was still stored on ALM’s servers.

“Full Delete netted ALM $1.7 million in revenue in 2014. It’s also a complete lie,” the hackers wrote. “Users almost always pay with credit card; their purchase details are not removed as promised, and include real name and address.”

The hack of Ashley Madison comes two months after the hookup website Adult Friend Finder had their database breached and the information of 3.8 million users released on the web.

ALM said in a statement Monday morning that it was working with law enforcement agencies to track down the hackers, and made no hints of acquiescing to the blackmail.

Update – July 21st: Ashley Madison claims that it has choked off the distribution of the stolen data by sending DCMA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notices to the domain owners where the data is hosted.

“Our team has now successfully removed the posts related to this incident as well as all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) about our users published online,” Ashley Madison said in a statement.

Ashley Madison clarified that the “full delete” option had always been the removal of a user’s profile and messages on the website, and not the removal of all PII.

In the wake of criticism that the $19 “full delete” option constituted an extortion of its members, Ashley Madison is now making the service free.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1468152-hackers-threaten-to-expose-37-million-users-of-adultery-website-ashley-madison/feed/0Gene Therapy Offers Cure for Congenital Blindness and So Much Morehttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1467037-gene-therapy-offers-cure-for-congenital-blindness-and-so-much-more/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1467037-gene-therapy-offers-cure-for-congenital-blindness-and-so-much-more/#commentsSun, 19 Jul 2015 23:57:09 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>In 1907, the first antibiotic was synthesized. It was able to treat syphilis without harming the the human body and was heralded as a “magic bullet” by its inventor. Nowadays, medicine without antibiotics is nigh unthinkable.

More than a century …

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In 1907, the first antibiotic was synthesized. It was able to treat syphilis without harming the the human body and was heralded as a “magic bullet” by its inventor. Nowadays, medicine without antibiotics is nigh unthinkable.

More than a century later, the medical community stands on the precipice of a similarly tectonic breakthrough with the discovery of gene therapy, which offers the hope of curing numerous genetic disorders.

A plethora of birth defects stems from the mutation of a single gene that shortchanges the body of some function or another. Gene therapy works by splicing in the working copies of that gene into a patient’s chromosomes.

The genetic editing is done by modified viruses, stripped out their ability to multiply in the host’s body, carrying copies of the working gene that are injected into the tissues of the affected organ, where they work to fix replace the mutated gene.

The groundworks for gene therapy was laid in the late 1990s, when advances in DNA sequencing allowed for the discovery of the exact genetic cause of many congenital disorders. So far, the mutations responsible for 35 eye-related genetic disorders have been discovered.

“We’re just at the beginning of this,” said Mark Pennesi, a clinical scientist at Oregon Health and Science University. “At least 18 or 19 genes that have been associated with Leber’s congenital amaurosi (LCA), and there are probably a few more to be discovered.”

LCA is a mono-genetic disorder that slowly robs the afflicted of their vision; the vision loss is caused by a gradual deterioration of the rods and cones, the cells in back of the eyes that detect light. Only a single mutation is necessary to trigger the disease, unlike poly-genetic disorders, the occurrence of which are correlated with multiple mutations.

Robert MacLaren, professor of ophthalmology at Oxford University, discusses the results of the first clinical trial of a gene therapy for an inherited cause of progressive blindness called choroideremia in London on Jan. 14, 2014 (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

The disease gained prominence in the medical community in 2008 after experiments documented a successful treatment of the disorder with gene therapy that targets the RPE65 mutation.

A Transparent Organ

A disproportionate amount of research has been conducted for finding gene therapy solutions to eye-related disorders relative to other congenital disease because the nature of the eye — transparent, observable — lends the organ to careful examination and scrutiny during the testing of new treatments. Eyes are also less likely to reject the modified viruses than most other organs.

That said, Glybera, the first gene therapy treatment approved for the market in Europe, treats lipoprotein lipase deficiency, an extreme rare disorder where fat could accumulate and block blood-flow.

The biotech firm that created Glybera wants to price each vial of the drug at around 50,000 euro ($54,160); a recommended six-year treatment with 21 vials would go over a million euro ($1,083,200).

In the United States, a number of gene therapy treatments for LCA are already in phase three of clinical testing. Many of the subjects in the trials have reported substantial vision restoration, many of them children who were able to see for the first time.

However, a study published in May sparked alarm after it shows that although some patients were able recover their vision temporarily, the effects of the therapy eventually “wore off” after a some years and deterioration of the photoreceptors continued.

“That finding is probably a little controversial,” Pennesi said. “The finds were of a subset of some of the patients that were treated, there’s a variety of reasons why the effect could wear off. … There are other groups out there that have their treatments last longer.”

Even if ocular gene therapy proves to be effective, there will probably be limits on how much vision restoration it could provide to adults who have been blind since childhood, many of whom haven’t formed the necessary connections in the neocortex responsible for vision.

“It’s not so much a problem with an adult who loses vision. The brain is fairly hard wired with that capacity,” Pennesi said. “We do sometimes worry about children with severe vision loss, will the brain be able to rewire itself.”

As the genetic catalogue for genetic disorders grows, the number of congenital disorders that appear incurable will continue to shrink. Theoretically, gene therapy treatments could expand beyond severe vision loss to tackle problems like colorblindness, and more, although those might have to wait until gene therapy becomes a safer practice.

“The question is, would you want to treat it? Most people who are colorblind do OK in life,” Pennesi said. ” It’s surgery — you’re putting a foreign particle in the eye.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1467037-gene-therapy-offers-cure-for-congenital-blindness-and-so-much-more/feed/0Australian Startup, Flirtey, Beats Amazon to Make the First Drone Delivery in US (Video)http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1467055-australian-startup-flirtey-beats-amazon-to-make-the-first-drone-delivery-in-us-video/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1467055-australian-startup-flirtey-beats-amazon-to-make-the-first-drone-delivery-in-us-video/#commentsSun, 19 Jul 2015 18:48:22 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>The Australian drone startup Flirtey made history on Friday, July 17, conducting the first commercial drone delivery test in the United States, ahead of better-known companies like Amazon.com, which has been harboring ambitions for a drone delivery system for some …]]>

The Australian drone startup Flirtey made history on Friday, July 17, conducting the first commercial drone delivery test in the United States, ahead of better-known companies like Amazon.com, which has been harboring ambitions for a drone delivery system for some time.

In three trips, Flirtey’s drone ferried 10 pounds of medicine from a local airport to a clinic in the rural town of Wise, Va., population 3,286 (2010 census).

The company compared the maiden flight to the Wright brothers’ experimentation with the first airplanes in Kitty Hawk, N.C.

Flirtey has just completed the first FAA approved drone delivery in the U.S. – a Kitty Hawk moment in Wise Virginia

The comparison, however, belies a crucial difference: The Wright brothers were the first people in the world to build a successful airplane, but successful drone deliveries have already been made in other countries.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration placed a de facto ban on drone delivery in February when its proposed regulations required that commercial drones fly within the line of sight of a human operator. Flirtey was able to station an observer at a vantage point to keep an eye on the drone at all times.

Recent experiments with drone delivery have centered around medical supply and other lightweight packages that could be delivered to disaster-stricken areas cut off from the rest of the world by conventional transport, but companies like Amazon.com have a broader vision.

Earlier this year, Amazon.com filed a patent for an autonomous drone delivery system, with the goal of being able to hand an ordered item over to the physical customer within minutes of purchase.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1467055-australian-startup-flirtey-beats-amazon-to-make-the-first-drone-delivery-in-us-video/feed/0‘Ludicrous Mode’ Upgrade for Tesla Model S Lets It Go From 0 to 60 MPH in Under 3 Secondshttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1465837-ludicrous-mode-upgrade-for-tesla-model-s-lets-it-go-from-0-to-60-mph-in-under-3-seconds/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1465837-ludicrous-mode-upgrade-for-tesla-model-s-lets-it-go-from-0-to-60-mph-in-under-3-seconds/#commentsFri, 17 Jul 2015 19:43:43 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Tesla unveiled a bundle of optional upgrades for the Model S sedan, including a series of software updates, a battery upgrade from 85 to 90 kWh, and the introduction of “ludicrous mode,” which should enable the S to go from …]]>

Tesla unveiled a bundle of optional upgrades for the Model S sedan, including a series of software updates, a battery upgrade from 85 to 90 kWh, and the introduction of “ludicrous mode,” which should enable the S to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds.

The battery upgrade, at $3,000, will lengthen the range of Model S by 15 miles, to almost 300 miles when driving at 65 MPH with a fully charged tank. Tesla is also introducing a single motor Model S for $70,000, $5,000 less than the dual motor version.

“Ludicrous mode,” which costs $10,000 to install, is the next iteration of the Model S’s “insane mode,” which propels the vehicle from 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds. After “ludicrous mode” will be “maximum plaid,” which is reserved for the next generation Tesla Roadster four years from now.

Musk said he had been testing the 7.0 firmware update everyday, which will include an autopilot option when driving on the highway.

In the first quarter of 2015, there were nearly 6,000 new registrations of the Model S, making it the best-selling electric car in America. Tesla said it shipped more than 11,000 Model S vehicles in the second quarter of 2015, up 52 percent from the same period last year.

Musk said that the Model X, a sports utility vehicle which he said will double Tesla’s sales, will start shipping in 2 months. Tesla is also working on the “ludicrous mode” for the Model X, aiming for 0 to 60 in 3 seconds.

There was no new information about the Model 3, a mass-market sedan that’s expected to be priced at $35,000 with a release date set more than two years from now.

Last month, Boeing patented a nuclear fission-fusion jet propulsion engine. In the design, a laser heats a pellet of hydrogen isotopes—deuterium and tritium—and …

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You’ve heard of nuclear power plants, now get ready for nuclear powered planes —on paper at least.

Last month, Boeing patented a nuclear fission-fusion jet propulsion engine. In the design, a laser heats a pellet of hydrogen isotopes—deuterium and tritium—and starts a fusion reaction, releasing hot gases in the process, which are then released out of a nozzle to create thrust.

The excess of free neutrons would bounce around in the engine, hitting a wall of fissionable material producing heat, which would be converted into electricity to power the lasers.

There’s only one problem with this design: It’s completely implausible, both technologically and from a safety perspective.

It’s ridiculous, it just strikes me as so implausible on so many levels.

— Paul Schatzkin, Fusor.net founder

“It’s ridiculous, it just strikes me as so implausible on so many levels,” said Paul Schatzkin, founder of Fusor.net, a hub for fusion energy enthusiasts. “Putting a fission reactor on top of a fusion reactor takes all the disadvantages of fission and negates all the advantages of fusion.”

A nuclear fusion reactor involves heating up positively charged nuclei to such high temperatures until they move fast enough to overcome the electron-induced repulsion and collide with each other, generating a tremendous amount of heat in the process.

From a theoretical perspective, nuclear fusion could be the best clean energy solution; all it requires is hydrogen plasma, which is found everywhere, to generate enormous quantities of energy, releasing only helium as a waste-product.

The only problem? A fusion reaction requires energy to initiate it, and so far no one has been able to break even, getting more energy out of the reaction than what it takes to initiate and sustain it.

“The conundrum of fusion is, how do you bottle a star,” Schatzkin said. “A fusion reaction is the same process that drivers every star.”

Because the temperature needed for fusion to occur — 15 million degrees Celsius minimum, with many reactors brewing much hotter reactions — is so high, tall magnetic confinement chambers are needed to keep the plasma from melting everything around it. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor will stand 100 feet tall once complete.

The Boeing patent doesn’t uses magnetic confinement, but inertial confinement, which at this point is probably even more impractical. At the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where laser-based fusion experiments are conducted, hundreds of lasers, housed in a 10-story building the size of three-football fields, are fired simultaneously to start a fusion reaction.

Then there’s the question of thrust. Previous fusion rocket designs by NASA involve heating up metal into ions, which is then released to propel a vehicle, an impossible method for an airplane, which, unlike rockets in outer-space, can’t just deposit metal particles anywhere it wants. The Boeing patent doesn’t mention any metal ions, referring to the particles from the fusion reactor as enough for propulsion.

The most incredulous aspect of the Boeing patent is the inclusion of fission material, which could be incredibly dangerous, even in a stationary environment. If a fission-powered airplane were to crash in an urban area, the resulting disaster could easily dwarf the fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Who in the right mind would put fissionable products into an airborne vessel that could crash?

— Paul Schatzkin, founder , Fusor.net

“Who in the right mind would put fissionable products into an airborne vessel that could crash?” Schatzkin said.

By itself, fusion energy could potentially be a good fit for air and space travel. A fusion reactor only uses a small portion of its fuel at any time, meaning it’s not vulnerable to the meltdowns experienced by malfunctioning fission power planets.

“If you have a fusion reactor, you’re injecting only a tiny amount of fuel in the chamber. If something did go haywire, you’re gonna burn the fuel that you have very quickly,” Schatzkin said. “The worst thing that could happen is that chamber will breach, you will lose the vacuum, and the reactor will immediately shut down.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1464615-boeing-patented-a-nuclear-fusion-fission-jet-engine-which-will-never-work/feed/0Review: Apple Music Has Everything, Perhaps Too Muchhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1465019-review-apple-music-has-everything-perhaps-too-much/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1465019-review-apple-music-has-everything-perhaps-too-much/#commentsThu, 16 Jul 2015 20:01:04 +0000Associated Press]]>LOS ANGELES—Apple Inc.’s new music service is a valiant effort to catch up in the emerging business of offering unlimited music on demand for a monthly price. It does so while acknowledging the legacy of iTunes, the world’s most popular …]]>

LOS ANGELES—Apple Inc.’s new music service is a valiant effort to catch up in the emerging business of offering unlimited music on demand for a monthly price. It does so while acknowledging the legacy of iTunes, the world’s most popular store for buying individual songs to own.

But Apple Music feels like an attempt to take on every competitive app from Pandora to Spotify to YouTube and advance the idea of online radio at the same time.

Apple Music feels crowded with features and buttons.

As a result, Apple Music feels crowded with features and buttons—unusual for a company known for promoting simplicity and ease of use. And as much as Apple Music tries to suit my personal tastes, I find many of its recommendations off-base.

Apple Music is several services in one.

The core is an on-demand music streaming service like Spotify with a similar price tag—$10 a month. You can pick any of millions of songs to play over Wi-Fi or your cellular connection. You don’t own the songs, though. Although you can download them for offline playback, access disappears once you stop paying (of course, after the generous 90-day trial period ends). It’s like renting rather than owning music.

Apple Music is also a giant song recommendation machine. A “For You” section offers playlists created by staff acquired when Apple bought Beats last year for $3 billion. It’s meant to reflect your iTunes purchases and preferences you make using animated bouncing bubbles, though I found the choices limiting. A “New” tab features new music, videos, and yet more playlists.

Then there’s the “Radio” tab, which debuts not only Apple’s new 24/7 online radio station, Beats1, but also contains several stations specializing in various genres. These are like playlists, but you can’t see all the songs that are up next.

A “Connect” channel offers a running stream of photos, videos, and other content provided by artists for fans. The area feels empty, probably because not many musicians have participated yet.

Amid all this, two innovations stand out:

One is Beats1. The concept of a radio station taken online and delivered to mobile devices in 100 countries around the world is refreshingly simple. Hosted by Zane Lowe in Los Angeles, Julie Adenuga in London, and Ebro Darden in New York, Apple is presenting three tastemakers whom I’m just getting to know. They play music and conduct interviews. Live listening is fun, and I can switch when I want more control over listening.

Siri, Apple’s ever-evolving digital assistant, can now take voice commands and launch music immediately, even responding to relatively complex commands. Ask it to “Play the top songs from 1973,” and you’ll get that year’s top 25, including “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.”

The concept of a radio station taken online and delivered to mobile devices in 100 countries around the world is refreshingly simple.

In fact, if Apple Music had only these two features, I’d feel satisfied.

Recommendations sound great, but they get overwhelming. Presented with dozens of options, the app turns back into a record store. I just want the app to say, “You like this? Then listen to this.” Pandora does this well.

There’s value to a playlist like “Bruce Springsteen: Deep Cuts,” compiled of worthwhile Boss songs that somehow never get played on the radio. But the human compilers are presented as faceless entities like “Apple Music Rock.” This feels impersonal and, to me, gets in the way of connecting with the artists.

Apple Music launched June 30 on iPhones and iPads as part of the free iOS 8.4 update. It ships with the new iPod Touch released Wednesday, July 15, though the previous model can get the update. A new Music app replaces Apple’s online radio service, iTunes Radio. Apple Music is on Mac and Windows computers through the iTunes app. An Android version and integration with Sonos wireless speakers are coming this year.

The service benefits from being featured prominently on Apple’s mobile devices, but I’m not sure that will be enough for people to switch from another service. If you’ve already spent time creating playlists on Spotify, for instance, you’re not going to want to start over on Apple Music.

Apple has a better chance at luring people who are new to music streaming, especially those who regularly buy songs on iTunes.

Apple Music is now the default organizer of all tunes people have saved to iPhones. When people venture away from their personal purchases in “My Music” and explore playlists and other offerings, they might save some songs to personal libraries, where subscription-only music is commingled with purchased downloads. Keeping up with the subscription could be worth it to keep what’s in one’s personal library intact.

Apple Music is mainly a deal for people who spend more than $120 on music annually, which is about double the average. However, there are also plenty of things Apple Music offers for free such as Beats1, genre-based radio stations, and the ability to follow artists on Connect.

It’s no doubt difficult to encapsulate the world of music in a product that aims to mold itself to millions of different tastes. But we’ve come to rely on Apple to address these very vexing problems. Usually it does so in a way that feels less cluttered.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1465019-review-apple-music-has-everything-perhaps-too-much/feed/0Hacked OPM Employee Data so Sensitive, Victims Could Need ID Theft Protection for Lifehttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1463357-hacked-opm-employee-data-so-sensitive-victims-could-need-id-theft-protection-for-life/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1463357-hacked-opm-employee-data-so-sensitive-victims-could-need-id-theft-protection-for-life/#commentsWed, 15 Jul 2015 19:03:44 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Near the end of 2014, after hackers looted Sony’s database, a number of former employees filed class action lawsuits against the company, arguing that the leak of their personal information, including their Social Security numbers, made them vulnerable to identity …]]>

Near the end of 2014, after hackers looted Sony’s database, a number of former employees filed class action lawsuits against the company, arguing that the leak of their personal information, including their Social Security numbers, made them vulnerable to identity theft.

That threat, they argued, made Sony liable for the financial burden of having to purchase identity theft protection for the rest of their lives. This week, a group of former employees filed another court complaint claiming there had been incidents of unauthorized credit card charges, attempts by thieves to open accounts under their names, and their personal data appearing on the Internet.

There’s no guarantee that after an X number of years, you’re safe from identity thieves.

Perhaps in an effort to pre-empt this sort of problem, the Office of Personnel Management (OMP), which recently announced details of a second breach involving the lost personal information of over 20 million current and former federal employees, announced on July 9 that it would provide free identity theft protection services for all those affected by the hack—for three years at least. The first breach, discovered in April, involved 4.2 million people.

The sources of identity theft are hard to pinpoint—victims’ information could have been stolen from their employers, the doctor’s office, or a number of other places—therefore not very much data is collected on the frequency of identity theft (IT) and the time that passes after the initial leak. In other words, there’s no guarantee that after an X number of years, you’re safe from identity thieves.

“You could be at risk for IT for the rest of your life, especially if your Social Security number or date of birth was stolen,” said Paige Hanson, an educational programs manager at LifeLock, an identity theft protection agency.

The hackers were able to take the fingerprints of 1.1 million employees and the Social Security numbers (SSN) of 21 million. The former might sound more threatening, since you can’t change your fingerprint, but for the typical victim, the SSN is just as immutable.

Social Security numbers can be changed in theory—people in witness protection programs routinely do just that—but it remains an impractical choice for most people; doing so would wipe out their credit histories, making it much more difficult to secure loans. In comparison, a lifetime of identity theft protection looks downright appealing.

Children are just starting to write the script for their identity, and targeting a child is very common.

— Paige Hanson, , LifeLock

Those affected by the hack not only have to look after themselves, but also immediate family members, including their children, as well as their present, and former, spouses. Immediately after the hack, some federal employees were enrolled in credit monitoring services, but the extension of similar coverage to family members wasn’t rolled out until July.

“Children are just starting to write the script for their identity, and targeting a child is very common,” Hanson said.

A 2013 report by the Justice Department found that 7 percent of U.S. residents 16 or older had experienced some form of identity theft in 2012, although most cases were limited to the use of existing bank accounts and credit cards, which are easier to change.

If there is a silver lining to the OPM fiasco, it would be raising public awareness about the threat that identity theft poses to the average American. Hanson said that every time a major hack like Sony’s or the big one affecting Target shoppers in 2014 dominated headlines, LifeLock would get more inquiries from potential customers about how to avoid identity theft.

“It’s important to be diligent about thoroughly checking your mail, [what appears to be junk mail] could be a new credit bill sent to your address,” Hanson said. “It’s important to call the credit card company and shut down that line of credit, before it starts having negative effect on [your credit score.]”

Is the government spying on your bitcoin spending habits? It’s more possible than you might think.

Documents leaked earlier this month in the data-breach that hit Hacking Team S.r.l., the Italy-based spyware firm, confirmed what many had suspected: authoritarian regimes were using spying software purchased from overseas to crack down on political dissenters.

But evidence of political repression wasn’t the only takeaway from the 400 GB trove of data leaked in the breach. The company was also selling tools to spy on how people use their bitcoins and other digital currencies.

Internal emails released in the breach indicate that Hacking Team’s premier product, the Remote Control System, got an upgrade in January 2014 that enables it to track “cryptocurrencies, such as BitCoin, and all the related information.”

“The module is able to collect various information: list of contacts and local accounts, wallet (i.e., the money) and the history of transactions,” reads an email dated Jan 12, 2014, published by Wikileaks.

“Currently it is intended only for Desktops (Windows, OS X, Linux), while introduction in Mobiles is still under evaluation,” the email continues.

The process is fairly straightforward: Once Hacking Team’s spyware is installed onto the target’s device, a key-logger would collect the passwords for the target’s Bitcoin wallet, and the observer could examine the transaction history by remotely controlling the device.

The prosecution of Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind behind the Silk Road website, definitely proved that bitcoin transactions were not as anonymous or untraceable as commonly believed. The Hacking Team revelations only cement the fact that bitcoin is not as agile as popularly touted, and could pose unique vulnerabilities that can be exploited by criminals hoping to capitalize on the new technology—after all, spyware can’t monitor the transfer of cold, hard cash.

“Here is some relevant context to position them in your pitch: Cryptocurrencies are a way to make untraceable transactions, and we all know that criminals love to easily launder, move, and invest black money,” the Hacking Team email continues. “[Law enforcement agencies,] by using our Intelligence module combined with this new capability, can correlate the usage of cryptocurrencies, defeating the financial opacity they provide.”

Bitcoin has faced a range of challenges to its survival as a currency: Its volatility, although on the decline, remains much higher than that of the dollar or the euro, making bitcoin largely useless as a store of value, and also its existence relies on the goodwill of the government, which could always strangle the currency with regulations if it desired to.

For bitcoin to reach escape velocity, existentially speaking, it would have to become popular enough that outlawing it would become politically unfeasible; no one wants to be held responsible for a recession. But its increasingly obvious security vulnerabilities could prove a roadblock toward widespread adoption.

“This type of risk may have a great impact on the average consumer’s willingness to adopt Bitcoin as a medium of exchange, despite the other positive features of Bitcoin,” Villanova University Assistant Professor of Finance John Sedunov said in an email.

“We are already worried about [Social Security numbers] and credit card data as it is, so it might be a tough sell to people to get them to adopt something that is new that may have similar technological vulnerability,” says Sedunov.

Unlike traditional financial institutions, many of which have sophisticated fraud-detection systems in place, services that manage bitcoin are still in the early stages of development, opening the door to heists like the one that emptied the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange.

“One of the essential mechanisms for the currency is that you need to ‘sign’ your transactions with a unique key,” Sedunov said. “If someone were to log your typing or otherwise acquire this information in an unscrupulous manner, they could easily transfer money from your Bitcoin wallet without your knowledge or approval.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1462498-leaked-emails-detail-how-spyware-could-track-your-bitcoin-history/feed/0Inspiring Teen With Swollen Leg Redefines Meaning of ‘Bikini-Body Ready’http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1462082-inspiring-teen-with-swollen-leg-redefines-meaning-of-bikini-body-ready/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1462082-inspiring-teen-with-swollen-leg-redefines-meaning-of-bikini-body-ready/#commentsTue, 14 Jul 2015 13:35:26 +0000Liz Dwyer, www.takepart.com]]>“For me beauty is not just on the outside. It’s on the inside,” Leclair says in the above video, which was produced for the YouTube channel Barcroft TV. “For me, I have to learn how to love yourself before learning …]]>

“For me beauty is not just on the outside. It’s on the inside,” Leclair says in the above video, which was produced for the YouTube channel Barcroft TV. “For me, I have to learn how to love yourself before learning how to love others.” Canadian teenager Isa-Bella Leclair was born with Parkes Weber syndrome.

Given the statistics on negative body image and children, Leclair’s drive to inspire her peers is needed, because many of those kids grow up to be women who don’t think they’re good enough unless they’re thin.

This article was originally published on www.takepart.com, July 13 2015. Read the complete article here.

That’s how much time passed between the Reddit protests—during which unpaid moderators effectively paralyzed the website by shutting down many of its most popular forums—and the resignation of the company’s CEO, Ellen Pao.

The protests were instigated by …

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One week.

That’s how much time passed between the Reddit protests—during which unpaid moderators effectively paralyzed the website by shutting down many of its most popular forums—and the resignation of the company’s CEO, Ellen Pao.

The protests were instigated by the firing of Victoria Taylor, a Reddit employee that worked closely with the moderators on the Ask Me Anything discussion discussion areas (in shorthand, “IAmA”), where celebrities often engage in questions and answers directly with Reddit users. It’s one of the most successful discussion areas on Reddit, regularly drawing in between 20 and 30 million views per month.

The Ask Me Anything discussion area was shut down by its moderators on July 3 to protest Taylor’s removal. Moderators for many other discussion areas, who had gradually become resentful of being neglected by the Reddit staff, did the same in solidarity with the Ask Me Anything moderators.

Scarcely a day later, the protesters disbanded, most of the closed discussion areas were re-opened, and the front page of Reddit was no longer filled with posts denouncing Ellen Pao, whom Reddit’s user-base naturally held responsible for Taylor’s removal, but the damage had been done; more than 200,000 people had signed a Change.org petition to have her removed as CEO, and a mass migration of the website’s user-base appeared imminent unless a drastic measure was taken—and it was.

Now, Reddit’s critics have started to build a narrative exculpating Pao, portraying her as a scapegoat for problems that were already deeply rooted in the company when she became CEO, taking the fall for the company’s executive chairman, Alexis Ohanian.

Many attribute the collective ire directed at Pao to the alleged sexism and racism of Reddit’s user-base, rather than anything that Pao did personally, and now a convenient detail has emerged that could vindicate that perspective: Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit employee who oversaw the restructuring of the Ask Me Anything, was also the executive chair of Reddit’s board of directors, technically making him Pao’s boss.

This point was raised on Sunday by Yishan Wang, a former CEO of Reddit and a personal of friend of Pao, in a post on Reddit. He argued that since Ohanian was the executive chair of the board of directors, he has authority over Pao, and should’ve taken the blame for Taylor removal, among Reddit’s many other problems.

If true, Wang’s theory could indict Reddit’s user-base as going after the wrong person, lending more credence to the widespread accusation that Reddit’s user-base went after Pao because she was a woman and a member of an ethnic minority.

Inverted Hierarchy

“Alexis wasn’t some employee reporting to Pao, he was the Executive Chairman of the Board, i.e. Pao’s boss. He had different ideas for AMA [the Ask Me Anything discussion area,] he didn’t like Victoria’s role, and decided to fire her. Pao wasn’t able to do anything about it,” Wang wrote on Reddit.

When news broke of Taylor’s removal, Reddit’s user-base naturally blamed Pao, as she was the CEO and had already become a suspect figure after her controversial sexual discrimination lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm.

“Then when the hate-train started up against Pao, Alexis should have been out front and center saying very clearly ‘Ellen Pao did not make this decision, I did.’ Instead, he just sat back and let her take the heat,” Wang wrote. “That’s a stunning lack of leadership and an incredibly [irresponsible] thing to do.”

Ohanian was quick to reply that, as counter-intuitive as it may sound, he reported to Pao, and not the other way around, which would make her ultimately responsible. Dan McComas, a former senior vice president of Reddit who had been dismissed around the same time as Taylor, corroborated Ohanian’s answer.

“The interesting thing here Yishan that you may not know is that Alexis DID report to Ellen,” McComas. who has organized Secret Santa on Reddit, wrote. “I remember the negotiations at the time to make it so. Granted, this creates all sorts of problems due to his position on the board.”

Wang’s jab at Ohanian is further dampened by the fact that the latter did, in fact, try to blunt the attack on Pao by taking responsibility for the miscommunication with the r/IAmA moderators. Ohanian wrote on the day that the shut-downs took place: “I’m sorry for how we handled communicating change to the AMA team this morning. I take responsibility for that,” and a day after Pao’s removal wrote, “It was my decision to change how we work with AMAs and the transition was my failure and I hope we can keep moving forward from that lesson.”

A Mixed Track Record

Still, Ohanian refuses to disclose the reason for Taylor’s removal, or what role Pao played in the process, and Reddit’s representatives have assiduously avoided naming any single individual as responsible for the removal (Ohanian said again today that he couldn’t “comment on the specifics.”) However, given Reddit’s nimble size—it only has around 70 employees—it’s difficult to imagine that Pao was entirely oblivious to the decision to let Taylor go.

And Taylor’s dismissal, far from being the sole cause of the Reddit protests, resembled more closely the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Numerous moderators said that the maelstrom surrounding her removal provided an opportunity for an airing of grievances, and the Change.org made no mention of Taylor, instead slamming Pao for leading Reddit into “a new age of censorship” making “empty promises” to moderators.

An initial wave of contempt for Pao blossomed earlier in June, when Reddit, without warning its user-base, suddenly deleted five discussion areas on the website because the content had been deemed controversial—most prominently, one discussion area was devoted to the ridicule of people considered overweight.

This, along with Pao’s sexual discrimination lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins, led many to see her as a vanguard of a new wave of political correctness that sought to end the free-wheeling atmosphere that has characterized Reddit from its inception.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1460923-was-ellen-pao-unfairly-scapegoated-in-the-reddit-fiasco-reddits-former-ceo-thinks-so/feed/0Solar Plane Grounded With Damaged Batteries After 4,000-Mile Flighthttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1449570-solar-plane-grounded-with-damaged-batteries-after-4000-mile-flight/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1449570-solar-plane-grounded-with-damaged-batteries-after-4000-mile-flight/#commentsSun, 12 Jul 2015 21:57:11 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Strange as it may sound, a solar-powered plane had flown over half the Pacific Ocean before a battery-powered one crossed the English Channel for the first time, and it’s already sustained enough damage to require serious repair.

The Solar Impulse …

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Strange as it may sound, a solar-powered plane had flown over half the Pacific Ocean before a battery-powered one crossed the English Channel for the first time, and it’s already sustained enough damage to require serious repair.

The Solar Impulse 2, an aircraft that runs completely on solar power, landed in Hawaii on July 3, five days after its departure from Japan—setting a record, at 4,000 miles, for the longest distance traveled by a solar-powered aircraft without stopping. It accomplished the feat a full week before the first battery-powered plane flew across the 30-milewide body of water between England and France.

“The damage to certain parts of the batteries is irreversible and will require repairs and replacements that will take several weeks to work through,” the Solar Impulse team said in a statement.

Overheating is a perennial problem among electric-powered devices.

Overheating is a perennial problem among electric-powered devices, as anyone who has driven a Tesla, or just owns an old laptop, may be familiar with.

Solar Impulse 2, a solar power plane, getting ready to take off from Nagoya Komaki airport on June 29, 2015. (Jean Revillard/SI2/Global Newsroom via Getty Images)

To capitalize on the limited hours of sunlight, the Impulse flew as high as 28,000 feet above sea level during daytime, before descending to 5,000 feet above sea level at night. The team did not say if the overheating was a result of the plane soaring, like Icarus, too close to the sun.

Despite the groundbreaking nature of the flight, the Impulse is only a proof-of-concept that solar planes can be built and flown. The extreme dimensions of the aircraft—its 236-foot-long wingspan is almost 40 feet wider than a Boeing 747’s, but only able to carry one person—makes it impractical even as a personal, much less commercial, form of transportation.

With regard to weight, the respective crafts are even more lopsided in comparison. With almost a quarter of its weight coming from its batteries, the Impulse scales in at an airy 5,000 pounds, which is only around 1/200th the weight of the Boeing 747.

A solar-powered aircraft’s ability to be its own source of power makes it conducive toward flights of great—and even indefinite—lengths. From 1994 to 2003, under the Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project, NASA experimented with a remotely piloted solar-powered aircraft that could fly almost up to 100,000 feet, with the eventual goal of using it as a satellite, monitoring everything from storms and agriculture to decaying pipelines. The Helios Prototype was the fourth and final aircraft developed under this project.

NASA’s solar-electric Helios Prototype flying wing is shown over the Pacific Ocean during its first test flight on solar power from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii, on July 14, 2001. (NASA/Nick Galante/PMRF)

The ERAST project came to an end in 2003, when the Helios Prototype crashed into a Hawaiian island, irreversibly damaging its fuel-cell engine. NASA had originally wanted to develop an aircraft that could fly for up to 6 months at a time.

NASA appears to have abandoned its solar-powered aircraft ventures for now, instead focusing on battery-powered ones, testing planes with as many as 18 propellers.

The Impulse began its journey around the globe in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and will head to Phoenix, Arizona, once its batteries are repaired.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1449570-solar-plane-grounded-with-damaged-batteries-after-4000-mile-flight/feed/0Silicon Valley Company Starts to Take Court Disputes Onlinehttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1447987-silicon-valley-company-starts-to-take-court-disputes-online/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1447987-silicon-valley-company-starts-to-take-court-disputes-online/#commentsSun, 12 Jul 2015 18:55:16 +0000Associated Press]]>SAN FRANCISCO—Imagine working out a divorce without hiring an attorney or stepping into court or disputing the tax assessment on your home completely online.

A Silicon Valley company is starting to make both possibilities a reality with software that experts …

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SAN FRANCISCO—Imagine working out a divorce without hiring an attorney or stepping into court or disputing the tax assessment on your home completely online.

A Silicon Valley company is starting to make both possibilities a reality with software that experts say represents the next wave of technology in which the law is turned into computer code that can solve legal battles without the need for a judge or attorney.

“We’re not quite at the Google car stage in law, but there are no conceptual or technical barriers to what we’re talking about,” said Oliver Goodenough, director of the Center for Legal Innovation at Vermont Law School, referring to Google’s self-driving car.

I can build great tools that represent the cutting edge of technology and extend it into the legal sector where none of that expertise resides.

— Colin Rule, co-founder, Modria

The computer programs, at least initially, have the ability to relieve overburdened courts of small claims cases, traffic fines, and some family law matters. But Goodenough and other experts envision a future in which even more complicated disputes are resolved online, and they say San Jose, California-based Modria Inc. has gone far in developing software to realize that.

“There is a version of the future when computers get so good that we trust them to play this role in our society, and it lets us get justice to more people because it’s cheaper and more transparent,” said Colin Rule, Modria’s co-founder.

Officials in Ohio are using Modria’s software to resolve disputes over tax assessments and keep them out of court, and a New York-based arbitration association has deployed it to settle medical claims arising from certain types of car crashes.

In the Netherlands, Modria software is being used to guide people through their divorces.

The program walks couples through more than two dozen questions, including how they want to co-parent any children they have. It suggests values for spousal support and notes areas of agreement. A second module allows them to negotiate areas of disagreement. If they reach a resolution, they can print up divorce papers that are then reviewed by an attorney to make sure neither side is giving away too much before they are filed in court.

Hundreds of couples have gone through the system since it launched in February, said Larry Friedberg, Modria’s chief marketing officer.

Modria’s founders initially developed their software to help eBay Inc. and PayPal Inc. solve customer complaints about damaged goods or late deliveries without employing teams of customer service representatives. At eBay, Rule said his system was resolving 60 million disputes a year.

He co-founded Modria in 2011. Although the company’s focus is on selling its technology to e-commerce businesses, Rule said he is passionate about deploying it to courts.

“I can build great tools that represent the cutting edge of technology and extend it into the legal sector where none of that expertise resides,” he said.

When you’re online, there’s a lot you don’t know about that person such as their race and other things that can cloud the decision-making process.

— MJ Cartwright, CEO, Court Innovations

A Michigan company, Court Innovations Inc., is using similar technology to resolve traffic disputes. In four court districts in the state, people ticketed on suspicion of running a red light or speeding can go online and provide an explanation in hopes of getting the ticket thrown out or a lower fine. Prosecutors review the information and make a decision that can be transmitted electronically to the alleged scofflaw for acceptance or rejection, said MJ Cartwright, the company’s CEO. The system has had more than 800 users so far, almost all of whom have resolved their cases online, she said.

“When you’re online, there’s a lot you don’t know about that person such as their race and other things that can cloud the decision-making process,” she said.

Technology such as Modria’s can provide legal support to people and businesses that have written off lawyers and the court system as too expensive and tedious and would otherwise try to resolve their disputes on their own, said Larry Bridgesmith, a law professor at Vanderbilt Law School in Tennessee who focuses on dispute resolution strategies.

The American Bar Association recommended Bridgesmith as an expert on the subject.

The technology won’t do away with attorneys, but it will require them to adapt, he said.

“If lawyers begin to understand that those are tools they can use to lower the costs of entry into the legal system … they can get back in the business of serving clients who are presently not served,” he said.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1447987-silicon-valley-company-starts-to-take-court-disputes-online/feed/0Swiss Post Proves You Don’t Have to Be Amazon to Dream of Droneshttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1447714-swiss-post-proves-you-dont-have-to-be-amazon-to-dream-of-drones-video/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1447714-swiss-post-proves-you-dont-have-to-be-amazon-to-dream-of-drones-video/#commentsSun, 12 Jul 2015 18:03:09 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>In an age where most of the world’s leading tech startups are clustered in Silicon Valley, there’s one innovative arena in which the United States is markedly behind: the use of drones.

As of the week of July 5–11, Switzerland’s …

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In an age where most of the world’s leading tech startups are clustered in Silicon Valley, there’s one innovative arena in which the United States is markedly behind: the use of drones.

As of the week of July 5–11, Switzerland’s postal service started testing the use of drones to deliver emergency supplies, geared for service when areas of the mountainous country are cut off from the rest of the world by a natural disaster.

Each of the Matternet drones, used by Swiss Post, can carry two pounds of freight.

The tests are the first-step toward integrating drones as a mainstay of the delivery system, a goal that remains implausible at the moment due to technical limitations like the strength of batteries and the management of crowded airspace.

Matternet Swiss Post drone. (Swiss Post/Yushiko Kusano)

The experiments are in part spurred by looming competition from companies like Amazon, which are pushing the frontiers of convenience with same-day—and even same-hour—delivery services.

These players do not need to make a profit in the delivery sector because it can be generated in their core business.

, Swiss Post

“These players do not need to make profit in the delivery sector because it can be generated in their core business. The result is increasing pressure on the margins and cost structures of conventional parcel service providers,” reads a statement from Swiss Post.

Amazon has already pre-emptively filed a patent for an autonomous drone delivery service that toys with the idea of using GPS technology to deliver straight to customers, wherever they may be, and has also started test-runs of delivering to customers’ cars instead of their homes.

Swiss Post may have stepped up its drone game because of the threat posed by American innovation, but American companies are flagging in this area, hampered by the sluggishness of the Federal Aviation Agency, which has set a leisurely schedule for crafting commercial drone regulations.

Matternet Swiss Post drone in flight. (Swiss Post/Yushiko Kusano)

Swiss Post said that these drone tests it’s doing today might well be a prelude to an autonomous drone delivery system, however fantastic the idea may sound today.

“Today, we may laugh about this new transport or delivery possibility the way people at the end of the 19th century laughed about the first glider operated by the pioneer of flight, Otto Lilienthal,” reads a statement by Swiss Post. “However, we are guessing that specific applications will be realistic within five to ten years.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1447714-swiss-post-proves-you-dont-have-to-be-amazon-to-dream-of-drones-video/feed/0Scientists Are Trying to Make Lego—and Everything Else Made of Plastic—Eco-Friendlyhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1424175-scientists-are-trying-to-make-lego-and-everything-else-made-of-plastic-eco-friendly/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1424175-scientists-are-trying-to-make-lego-and-everything-else-made-of-plastic-eco-friendly/#commentsFri, 10 Jul 2015 22:26:51 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>When most people think about the polluting effects of petroleum, they’ll likely conjure up images of smog emitting from the exhaust pipes of gas-guzzling trucks, but automobiles are only one part of the oil-pollutant equation. Most plastics—from the disposable fork …]]>

When most people think about the polluting effects of petroleum, they’ll likely conjure up images of smog emitting from the exhaust pipes of gas-guzzling trucks, but automobiles are only one part of the oil-pollutant equation. Most plastics—from the disposable fork to the Lego piece—are also made out of fossil-fuels.

As electric-car manufacturers like Tesla make great strides in renewable energy on one front, companies like The Lego Group are doing their part to make make their industry eco-friendly. In 2010, plastics made up 2.7 percent of all petroleum consumption in the United States.

Last week, Lego announced plans to invest $150 million into finding a biodegradable material to replace the petroleum-based polymers that make up the miniature building blocks we all know and love.

The tens of billions of Lego pieces produced each year are made out of ABS—an acronym for acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene, three polymers synthesized from petroleum—which possesses unique qualities that have proved difficult to duplicate with bio-plastic substitutes.

Earlier attempts by Lego to replace ABS proved futile. For example, a polylactic-acid polymer made from corn lost its rigidity and shape a few weeks after being molded. Lego is redoubling its efforts, though, launching a sustainability center that will assemble a staff of over 100 chemists and other specialists in the material sciences.

Experimentation with polymers synthesized from soybeans and other plants goes back 60 years, with interest waxing and waning with the rise and fall of oil prices.

Michael Ange sculpture “David” made with Lego bricks by artist Nathan Sawaya in Paris on May 15. (Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images)

The timing of Lego’s decision to become eco-friendly might suggest that biodegradable plastics is a relatively new area of research. In fact, experimentation with polymers synthesized from soybeans and other plants goes back 60 years, with interest waxing and waning with the rise and fall of oil prices.

“[Interest has] ramped up significantly in the past two decades,” said Marc Hillmyer, director of the Center for Sustainable Polymers at the University of Minnesota. “It’s been very active.”

Polylactic-acid polymers, synthesized from crops like corn and sugar-beets, have already found numerous applications, serving as the base material for disposable cutlery, plastic cups, and even apparel, so it wasn’t surprising that Lego sought to have it replace ABS.

“Polylactic-acid is one of the most successful bio-based plastic that’s been derived from biomass,” Hillmyer said.

Hillmyer was among a coterie of chemists who received a total of $20 million dollars from the National Science Foundation last year to research and develop eco-friendly plastics. In his lab, Hillmyer focuses on tweaking the structure of polylactic-acids and other bio-plastic polymers to make them compliant to commercial needs.

“One of the things we’ve been developing is a very tough version of polylactic-acid that don’t have some of the inherent qualities that other materials have,” he said.

Polylactic-acid has also been modified in the other direction, becoming soft and flexible enough in some variants to serve as photographic film.

To ensure that bioplastic will actually biodegrade, polymers are often stress-tested in model experiments for their susceptibility to hydrolysis and oxidation, with standards set by the ASTM International, a standards development organization.

Still, despite the existing body of research on bio-degradables, we’re only at the outset of the journey to wean ourselves of petroleum-based plastic. Almost everything around you that’s not made out of wood, metal, or glass is made of plastic—from the mouse you’re clicking on, to the armrest you’re leaning on, to the fan massaging your face with a breeze.

Let’s hope that oil prices stay high.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1424175-scientists-are-trying-to-make-lego-and-everything-else-made-of-plastic-eco-friendly/feed/0All-Electric Plane Makes English Channel Crossing for First Timehttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1423204-all-electric-plane-makes-english-channel-crossing-for-first-time/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1423204-all-electric-plane-makes-english-channel-crossing-for-first-time/#commentsFri, 10 Jul 2015 19:26:29 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>The E-Fan, an Airbus creation that runs on motors powered by lithium-ion batteries, crossed the English channel earlier today, claiming the title of the first all-electric aircraft to have reached the geographic benchmark.

The 1,300-pound aircraft took off in Lydd, …

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The E-Fan, an Airbus creation that runs on motors powered by lithium-ion batteries, crossed the English channel earlier today, claiming the title of the first all-electric aircraft to have reached the geographic benchmark.

The 1,300-pound aircraft took off in Lydd, England and alighted Calais, France, completing the 31-mile journey in 37 minutes, reaching a peak altitude of 3,500 feet.

Airbus CTO Jean Botti welcoming Didier Esteyne (L), the pilot of the E-Fan, celebrating his flight across the English channel in Calais, France on July 10, 2015. (Airbus)

The E-Fan had already taken more than a hundred flights in preparation for the Channel crossing.

Didier Esteyne, the pilot of the E-Fan’s channel flight, who also designed the aircraft, has extensive experience as a competitive aerobatic display pilot.

Airbus’s claim to the title of flying the first electric plane across the English Channel has been disputed by Hugues Duval, who reported crossing the channel in an electric Crici plane hours before Airbus.

Airbus Group s E-Fan technology demonstrator became the world s first all-electric two engine aircraft taking off by its own power to successfully cross the Channel on 10 July 2015, some 106 years after Louis Bleriot s epic flight.Here just before landing in Calais. (Airbus)

Duval didn’t take off in his plane, however. It had to be initially towed by another plane because he lacked permission from aerospace authorities, a detail Airbus has seized on to argue that his flight was illegitimate.

“We are not worried. It would not count because we understand he set off from another plane. We applaud the intrepid aviator that did this, although the actual details are yet to be confirmed,” said an Airbus spokesman.

Airbus plans to start the production a 2-seater model of the E-fan in 2017, and they’re not the only ones interested in electric planes. NASA has already began experimenting with the concept. Exciting as these early experiments are, we’re still a bit far from all-electric airplanes replacing gasoline-guzzling commercial carriers some time soon.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1423204-all-electric-plane-makes-english-channel-crossing-for-first-time/feed/0Radical New Cabin Design Could Actually Increase Airplane Seat Sizehttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1422210-new-cabin-design-could-make-plane-seats-bigger/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1422210-new-cabin-design-could-make-plane-seats-bigger/#commentsThu, 09 Jul 2015 23:13:19 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>For years, airline seats have been shrinking. The past two decades have seen a decline in the size of airline seats: between 1991 and 2014, the narrowest seats on many major airlines—which are also the most common seats—lost …]]>

For years, airline seats have been shrinking. The past two decades have seen a decline in the size of airline seats: between 1991 and 2014, the narrowest seats on many major airlines—which are also the most common seats—lost 2 inches in width, or around 10 percent.

When Airbus unveiled its new cabin design in April, it seemed like the bottom of the barrel in terms of seat shrinkage, with the the manufacturer chipping away at the armrests to find space for more seats.

The design staggers adjacent passengers in the same row in different directions to fit more people in the same amount of space.

Zodiac Seats France, an airplane parts manufacturer, filed a patent for the “Economy Class Hexagon Cabin,” a seating design that ingeniously takes advantage of the simple physical reality that people—at least most of them—are wider at their shoulders than at their hips. The design staggers adjacent passengers in the same row in different directions to fit more people in the same amount of space by allowing shoulder space to overlap.

Sketch of the Hexagon Cabin design (Zodiac Seats France).

In a Hexagon” cabin, not only would the seats be larger for any given amount of cabin space, passengers would have full-access to both of their armrests, putting to rest the awkward, passive-aggression territorial disputes familiar to anyone who has flown economy.

The patent is not an outline of a specific blueprint for a cabin, but a general seating pattern that could be modulated to accommodate a variety of airline cabins.

The Hexagon would change not only the seating arrangement, but also make the aisle slightly zig-zagged. To comply with airline regulations about the minimum width needed to constitute an aisle—15 inches at the floor, and 20 inches at a height of 25 inches and higher—some of the seats will be “pivotally mounted,” which would further increase cabin density.

One potential drawback of the Hexagon seating arrangement is that passengers would have a much easier time making—or a much more difficult time avoiding—eye contact with their fellow captives.

Another is that the pattern could require pull-down seats to aid accessibility. Because the seats face each other, it would be difficult for someone in the middle of a row to get out otherwise.

Sketch of a pull-down seat in the Hexagon Cabin design (Zodiac Seats France).

Another potential problem that the Hexagon cabin might pose is that although it would increase the density of passengers in a given cabin, the innovation doesn’t expand the ability of an airplane to store more luggage, particularly in the overhead compartments.

Airliners are already flying much fuller flights than in the past—in 1977, the average flight was 55 percent full, in the 1990s it was 65–70 percent, and it reached a record in 2014 averaging 83.4 full. This coupled with the fact that passengers are bringing bigger carry-ons to avoid paying for checked luggage, puts increasing pressure on storage space.

The Hexagon cabin design, which promises to increase cabin density without sacrificing comfort, could exacerbate that problem meaning more gate checked carry-ons in the future.

In preparation for Comic-Con, Otto Dieffenbach constructed a card-board R2 D2 that has a drone at its base, allowing it to fly. Visually, the model looks different from other R2 D2s in that the dome is open to allow the air for the drone engine.

In the film, R2 D2 uses a pair of rocket-boosters to launch itself into flight.

The growing ubiquity of drones, pricy as they are today, could allow it to occupy the same—or higher—position that Legos or boardgames like Monopoly did for the previous generations. Competitive drone racing leagues have already started to dot the globe, and drones that could both fly and sail on water—perfect during trips to the beach—already exist.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1422387-watch-this-drone-powered-r2-d2-soar-into-the-sky-video/feed/0Faster Lasers Could Reveal Better Data Storagehttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1418340-faster-lasers-could-reveal-better-data-storage/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1418340-faster-lasers-could-reveal-better-data-storage/#commentsTue, 07 Jul 2015 10:00:51 +0000Jessica Stoller-Conrad, Caltech]]>DVDs and Blu-ray disks contain so-called phase-change materials that morph from one atomic state to another after being struck with pulses of laser light, with data “recorded” in those two atomic states.

Using ultrafast laser pulses that speed up the …

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DVDs and Blu-ray disks contain so-called phase-change materials that morph from one atomic state to another after being struck with pulses of laser light, with data “recorded” in those two atomic states.

Using ultrafast laser pulses that speed up the data recording process, researchers adopted a novel technique, ultrafast electron crystallography (UEC), to visualize directly in four dimensions the changing atomic configurations of the materials undergoing the phase changes.

In doing so, they discovered a previously unknown intermediate atomic state—one that may represent an unavoidable limit to data recording speeds.

By shedding light on the fundamental physical processes involved in data storage, the work may lead to better, faster computer memory systems with larger storage capacity. The research, done in the laboratory of Ahmed Zewail, professor of chemistry and of physics at Caltech, appears online in ACS Nano.

Recording Data in 0s and 1s

When the laser light interacts with a phase-change material, its atomic structure changes from an ordered crystalline arrangement to a more disordered, or amorphous, configuration. These two states represent 0s and 1s of digital data.

“Today, nanosecond lasers—lasers that pulse light at one-billionth of a second—are used to record information on DVDs and Blu-ray disks, by driving the material from one state to another,” explains Giovanni Vanacore, a postdoctoral scholar and an author of the study. The speed with which data can be recorded is determined both by the speed of the laser—that is, by the duration of each “pulse” of light—and by how fast the material itself can shift from one state to the other.

Thus, with a nanosecond laser, “the fastest you can record information is one information unit, one 0 or 1, every nanosecond,” says Jianbo Hu, a postdoctoral scholar and the first author of the paper. “To go even faster, people have started to use femtosecond lasers, which can potentially record one unit every one millionth of a billionth of a second. We wanted to know what actually happens to the material at this speed and if there is a limit to how fast you can go from one structural phase to another.”

A New Limit

To study this, the researchers used their technique, ultrafast electron crystallography. The technique, a new development, allowed researchers to observe directly the transitioning atomic configuration of a prototypical phase-change material, germanium telluride (GeTe), when it is hit by a femtosecond laser pulse.

In UEC, a sample of crystalline GeTe is bombarded with a femtosecond laser pulse, followed by a pulse of electrons. The laser pulse causes the atomic structure to change from the crystalline to other structures, and then ultimately to the amorphous state. Then, when the electron pulse hits the sample, its electrons scatter in a pattern that provides a picture of the sample’s atomic configuration as a function of the time.

With this technique, the researchers could see directly, for the first time, the structural shift in GeTe caused by the laser pulses. However, they also saw something more: a previously unknown intermediate phase that appears during the transition from the crystalline to the amorphous configuration. Because moving through the intermediate phase takes additional time, the researchers believe that it represents a physical limit to how quickly the overall transition can occur—and to how fast data can be recorded, regardless of the laser speeds used.

“Even if there is a laser faster than a femtosecond laser, there will be a limit as to how fast this transition can occur and information can be recorded, just because of the physics of these phase-change materials,” Vanacore says. “It’s something that cannot be solved technologically—it’s fundamental.”

Better Data Storage

Despite revealing such limits, the research could one day aid the development of better data storage for computers, the researchers say.

Right now, computers generally store information in several ways, among them the well-known random-access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). RAM, which is used to run the programs on your computer, can record and rewrite information very quickly via an electrical current. However, the information is lost whenever the computer is powered down. ROM storage, including CDs and DVDs, uses phase-change materials and lasers to store information. Although ROM records and reads data more slowly, the information can be stored for decades.

Finding ways to speed up the recording process of phase-change materials and understanding the limits to this speed could lead to a new type of memory that harnesses the best of both worlds.

The researchers say that their next step will be to use UEC to study the transition of the amorphous atomic structure of GeTe back into the crystalline phase—comparable to the phenomenon that occurs when you erase and then rewrite a DVD.

Although these applications could mean exciting changes for future computer technologies, this work is also very important from a fundamental point of view, Zewail says.

“Understanding the fundamental behavior of materials transformation is what we are after, and these new techniques developed at Caltech have made it possible to visualize such behavior in both space and time,” Zewail says.

The National Science Foundation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research supported the work. The research too place in Caltech’s Center for Physical Biology, which is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1418340-faster-lasers-could-reveal-better-data-storage/feed/0Spyware Firm That Sold Surveillance Tools to Authoritarian Regimes Suffers Major Hackhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1418191-spyware-firm-that-sold-surveillance-tools-to-authoritarian-regimes-suffers-major-hack/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1418191-spyware-firm-that-sold-surveillance-tools-to-authoritarian-regimes-suffers-major-hack/#commentsMon, 06 Jul 2015 20:48:43 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Hacking Team S.r.l., an Italian firm that sold spyware tools to nation-states, incurred a large data breach over the week, with over 400 GB of emails, source code, and miscellaneous data released to the Internet at large via torrents.

The …

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Hacking Team S.r.l., an Italian firm that sold spyware tools to nation-states, incurred a large data breach over the week, with over 400 GB of emails, source code, and miscellaneous data released to the Internet at large via torrents.

The information from the breach confirmed long-standing accusations that until now were only supported by circumstantial evidence: Hacking Team was selling surveillance tools to authoritarian regimes around the world, many of which having records of human rights abuses.

Invoice records from the breach show that Hacking Team counts Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan among its customers. Sudan has been the subject of an arms embargo issued by the United Nation s (U.N.)— one that covered the sale of technical assistance — which was probably why Sudan was listed as “not officially supported” in Hacking Team’s customer database.

An invoice from 2012 showed that Hacking Team received a wire transfer of nearly half a million euros from the Sudanese government. Earlier this year, the Italian representative to the U.N. said in a letter that Hacking Team, which was being investigated by the U.N., has never done business with the Sudanese government.

The spyware enables a government to access the phone’s emails, text messages, files from applications like Facebook, Viber, Skype, or WhatsApp, contacts, and call history.

— Human Rights Watch

“The spyware enables a government to access the phone’s emails, text messages, files from applications like Facebook, Viber, Skype, or WhatsApp, contacts, and call history,” reads a Human Rights Watch post describing the use of Hacking Team firmware by the Saudi Arabian government. “It also allows authorities controlling the spyware to turn on a phone’s camera or microphone to take pictures or record conversations without the owner’s knowledge.”

According to Citizen Lab, a Canadian think tank, Hacking Team’s software has been used to target the Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia and journalists critical of the government in Ethiopia, from where dozens of journalists have fled in the past decade due to “threats and intimidation.”

Hacking Team’s spyware toolkit, the Remote Control System (RCS), was first disclosed to the public on the Kaspersky Lab blog more than two years ago. Kaspersky, which sells anti-virus software, had detected copies of the RCS and reverse-engineered the spyware to explore its functions.

Kaspersky later revealed a list of the number of RCS “collector” IP addresses by country, which included many of the countries disclosed in the recent data breach, and some that weren’t, including mainland China, which has been known to force computer manufacturers to directly insert spyware backdoors into their products.

A staff member at Hacking Team, Christian Pozzi, took to Twitter to defend the company.

“Don’t believe everything you see. Most of what the attackers are claiming is simply not true,” Pozzi wrote. “The attackers are spreading a lot of lies about our company that is simply not true. The torrent contains a virus.”

Pozzi’s account was later hacked, and is currently offline.

Not all, or even most, of Hacking Team’s customers are associated with political repression. Australia, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States are also clients. Documents from the breach show that the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency have used software from Hacking Team since 2011, and that the firm is trying to expand to the offices of district attorneys.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1418191-spyware-firm-that-sold-surveillance-tools-to-authoritarian-regimes-suffers-major-hack/feed/0The Insider’s Guide to Life as an Uber Driverhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1416608-the-insiders-guide-to-life-as-an-uber-driver/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1416608-the-insiders-guide-to-life-as-an-uber-driver/#commentsMon, 06 Jul 2015 00:07:28 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Uber has been playing in the big leagues.

The latest round of funding put its value at $50 billion, and since December, it counts more than 150,000 drivers in the United States.

But for such a vast enterprise, there’s a …

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Uber has been playing in the big leagues.

The latest round of funding put its value at $50 billion, and since December, it counts more than 150,000 drivers in the United States.

But for such a vast enterprise, there’s a surprising lack of training. Apart from a 13-minute instructional video on how to use the app, Uber provides no additional support to its drivers.

This has in turn created a demand for online instruction on how to become a great Uber driver, spawning online ride-sharing gurus who share tips on YouTube, answer questions from fans, and have even created online courses for Uber.

Brian Cole is one such guru. He inadvertently stumbled into the role when he became an Uber driver last September. Cole was a delivery person for a pizza company in Cincinnati when he decided to jump into Uber, which had just become available in the city in April, full time.

Cole works mostly at night, ferrying inebriated customers from bars to home (no one has made a mess in his Toyota Prius yet), and was soon able to make more than $1,000 per week.

He started making YouTube videos almost immediately, videotaping both in his car and living room, not to attract some sort of following, but as a personal document of sorts.

I only intended my channel to be a case study of what an Uber driver can make in an average market.

— Brian Cole, YouTube Uber instructor

“I only intended my channel to be a case study of what an Uber driver can make in an average market,” he said in a phone interview.

After one of his early videos containing a few tips for drivers received more than 30,000 views, Cole realized that there was a sizable market of Uber neophytes who needed a boot camp for ride-share driving, so he started making videos tailored for that audience.

How 2 Uber

His YouTube channel lists a comprehensive array of videos covering everything from whether you should keep a tip jar in your car (no, people might complain about you, and it’s against the rules so you could get banned) to how to deal with drunk customers (don’t talk back to them; remind yourself it will be over soon), and includes advice on how to avoid mistakes that even experienced taxi drivers are prone to making.

One of Uber’s most famous — and infamous — features is fare surging. During peak hours, prices can rise by a factor of five in a neighborhood when there’s a shortage of drivers. Novice Uber drivers are primed to chase after heightened fares, but Cole, speaking from experience, states that most of the time it’s not worth it: Surges are brief and will likely have declined or disappeared by the time you make it to that neighborhood.

“Surge pricing is a waste of time for me. As soon as I get there, surge pricing disappears. No more wasting gas and chasing surge,” an Uber driver wrote in the comment section of one of his first videos.

Cole has since partnered with Harry Campbell, author of the popular blog for Uber drivers, to create an online training course for incoming Uber drivers, priced at $97, aptly named MaximumRideSharingProfits.

After perusal of his channel, it’s not too difficult to see why Uber doesn’t provide its drivers more training: The advice Cole gives is intended to help the drivers boost their income, which may occasionally go against the customer ’s—and the company’s—interests.

In one of his videos, Cole advises drivers to avoid short trips. They’re usually not worth the time spent to pick up the customer, and the $1 safety charge really eats away at the short trips. Many veteran Uber drivers take this lesson to heart and will ask customers beforehand where they’re going, canceling trips that they deem insufficiently lengthy, much to the ire of some Uber users.

The diverging interest of Uber and its drivers is one reason Cole’s not worried that Uber could swoop in and replace him with in-house training videos.

“I think if Uber wants to create some kind of training, people would go on the blogs [and] YouTube,” Cole said. “Corporate training is great, but people will always want third-party reviews.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1416608-the-insiders-guide-to-life-as-an-uber-driver/feed/0Heartbreaking Video Shows What Can Happen When Women Skip Makeuphttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1416369-heartbreaking-video-shows-what-can-happen-when-women-skip-makeup/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1416369-heartbreaking-video-shows-what-can-happen-when-women-skip-makeup/#commentsSun, 05 Jul 2015 14:00:02 +0000Liz Dwyer, www.takepart.com]]>As you see in the above video from London-based beauty blogger Em Ford, a woman with acne is a prime target for disparaging comments.

Hundreds of people, many of whom have acne, are leaving comments on Ford’s YouTube and Instagram…

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As you see in the above video from London-based beauty blogger Em Ford, a woman with acne is a prime target for disparaging comments.

Hundreds of people, many of whom have acne, are leaving comments on Ford’s YouTube and Instagram pages saying they can relate to the comments the blogger has received.

As for Ford, her message is simple: “You are beautiful—no matter how flawed you feel, no matter how upset you may about the way you look or how hard you find it to make friends, or be confident,” she wrote. “Believe in yourself, and never let anyone tell you’re not beautiful—not even yourself.”

This article was originally published on www.takepart.com, July 3, 2015. Read the complete article here.

Nintendo could launch its next generation gaming device, the “NX”, in Fall 2016.

While little is known about the device itself, Taiwan’s Digitimes reported that Nintendo’s supply chain had been told to prepare for a Fall 2016 launch of a new gaming device. Manufacturing of the NX could start as early as October this year, and Foxconn Electronics will reportedly be manufacturing most of the units.

Nintendo has struggled in recent years with its gaming devices and consoles, and if the NX is a hit, it could help Nintendo’s revenue and bottom line. Since the Wii gaming console, Nintendo has been struggling to provide follow-on hits, despite its popular games such as Mario.

Nintendo’s Wii U is the latest gaming console that the company produced, and was released in late 2012 worldwide. The company has only shipped 9 million units of the device, struggling to compete with Sony Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s XBox.

Despite the launch of the NX next year, Nintendo has committed to continuing to support its existing gaming consoles, the Wii U and the 3DS. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said in a recent shareholder meeting that “it would be highly inefficient to stop releasing titles for Nintendo 3DS or Wii U right after the launch of NX,” according to gaming magazine Gamespot.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415703-nintendo-nx-2016/feed/0Playstation Network PSN is Down, Sony Investigatinghttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415684-playstation-network-psn-down-sony-investigating/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415684-playstation-network-psn-down-sony-investigating/#commentsFri, 03 Jul 2015 20:11:38 +0000Ram Srinivasan, Epoch Times Contributor]]>Sony’s Playstation Network, also known as PSN, is currently down for some users, and Sony said that they were investigating the network outage. The PSN outage comes as users in America are celebrating a long weekend due to Independence Day …]]>

Sony’s Playstation Network, also known as PSN, is currently down for some users, and Sony said that they were investigating the network outage. The PSN outage comes as users in America are celebrating a long weekend due to Independence Day (July 4th).

The Playstation Network PSN is an online service provided by Sony Computer Entertainment for users of the Playstation gaming consoles, as well as other Sony devices. The online network allows Playstation gamers to connect to others and a larger online network, and join or create multi-player games as well as compete with other players. It was first launched in 2006, with features being added with every Playstation release.

PSN has suffered from a few, but widespread, issues since launch. In April 2011, the network suffered a security intrusion from hackers, which resulted in user data being stolen. PSN was out for 23 days, and Sony offered users freebies when they rejoined the service. On December 25 and 26, 2014, PSN went down from a massive denial-of-service attack, though some users complained of being unable to connect for several days that followed.

The Playstation Network is reported to have 110 million users, with up to 65 million users actively using it on a monthly basis. Sony’s Playstation consoles have sold many millions of units worldwide since launch, with the first Playstation selling over 100 million units, and the latest version, the Playstation 4, having sold over 22 million units since its release in November 2013.

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415684-playstation-network-psn-down-sony-investigating/feed/0A Week After Reddit Protests, Ellen Pao Steps Down as CEOhttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415340-reddit-on-the-verge-of-civil-war-after-popular-ama-coordinator-fired/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415340-reddit-on-the-verge-of-civil-war-after-popular-ama-coordinator-fired/#commentsFri, 03 Jul 2015 18:13:26 +0000Jonathan Zhou, Epoch Times]]>Update – July 10th: A week after Reddit moderators shut down many of the most popular forums on the website in protest of the firing of Victoria Taylor and administrative mismanagement, Ellen Pao has stepped down as CEO of the …]]>

Update – July 10th: A week after Reddit moderators shut down many of the most popular forums on the website in protest of the firing of Victoria Taylor and administrative mismanagement, Ellen Pao has stepped down as CEO of the company, to be replaced by Steve Huffman, a co-founder and the original CEO of Reddit.

Pao was the target of widespread contempt by Reddit’s user-base during the shutdown of the website, and a Change.org petition to have her removed as CEO received more than 200,000 signatures in the days following the protests.

On Monday, Pao issued a formal apology to Reddit users, admitting that the management team had “screwed up” and “haven’t communicated well” with the websites moderators, which appears to have quelled some of the anger towards her, but proved to be ultimately futile in securing her position in the company.

An account of the Reddit shutdown follows below.

July 3rd report

After the termination of Victoria Taylor, an employee at Reddit and a popular moderator for the subreddit r/IAmA — which features frequent Q&As between celebrities and the website’s users — the subreddit’s moderators set it to private, essentially shutting down one of Reddit’s most popular channels.

“Today, we learned that Victoria was unexpectedly let go from her position with Reddit. We all had the rug ripped out from under us and feel betrayed,” a moderator for r/IAmA wrote on Thursday. “Before doing that, the admins really should have at least talked to us.”

Administrators refuse to comment on why Taylor was fired, although a deleted Quora post from a manager at Reddit indicates that Taylor pushed back against proposals to commercialize r/IAmA by adding video Q&A sessions.

A photo of Victoria Taylor, who was recently fired from Reddit for undisclosed reasons. (Reddit)

Attempts by Reddit administrators to placate these concerns were seen as dismissive, and other popular subreddits — r/funny, books, video, among many others — were shut down by their respective moderators in solidarity with the moderators at r/IAmA, rendering large swathes of the site dysfunctional.

A few hours after midnight on Friday, some of the subreddits were re-opened to the public after administrators desperate to get the subs back online made promises to improve communication channels going forward.

The top stories on Reddit’s front-page all deal with the firing of Taylor or the conflict with the administrators.

“I would like to accomplish two things immediately: Get the blacked out subreddits back online,” wrote Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. “Your message was received loud and clear. The communication between Reddit and the moderators needs to improve dramatically. We will work closely with you all going forward to ensure events like today don’t happen again.”

Still, the IAmA subreddit remains on lock-down, and the dispute has sparked an all-out conflagration that threatens to consume the Reddit community.

The top stories on Reddit’s front-page all deal with the firing of Taylor or the conflict with the administrators: one post links to an article describing the downfall of Digg, a precursor to Reddit. Digg’s valuation fell from $160 million to $500,000 after the company made unpopular structural changes to the website that drove away its user base.

Reddit users have repeatedly shared the story of Digg’s decline on the website in recent months, insinuating that if Reddit’s team, headed by interim CEO Ellen Pao, continues to implement unpopular reforms, they might have a mass exodus on their hands.

Civil Unrest

Tensions have been building between Reddit’s user-base and the company for months, amid concerns that nefarious reforms — most notably broad censorship policies — would be introduced to make the website more attractive to advertisers. Earlier this month, the deletion of several controversial subreddits, including one devoted to ridiculing fat people, triggered massive unrest in the Reddit community, with much of the ire directed at Pao, who became CEO in November of 2014.

In the wake of the sub-reddit deletions, a cartoon circulated that showed Pao as a tank-commander running over the cartoon person in the Reddit logo, using a visual template borrowed from the iconic photograph of Tank Man, the mysterious student who stood before a column of tanks during the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

This cartoon of Pao was widely circulated on Reddit after controversial subreddits were deleted in early June. (Reddit).

A vocal part of the Reddit community sees Pao as a suspicious figure, with top-voted comments frequently labeling her failed $16 million gender discrimination lawsuit against her former employer, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as just another shakedown attempt to pay for the legal fees of her husband Buddy Fletcher, who has been embroiled in lawsuits accusing him of defrauding a Louisiana pension fund out of millions, and also her fighting back against being labeled “the black Madoff.”

The attacks on Pao — and the entire Reddit management — have only mounted.

The attacks on Pao — and the entire Reddit management — have only mounted in the midst of the moderators’ protests; on the front page of r/pics a photograph of Hitler’s desk is captioned as “Ellen Pao’s office,” and the Nazi Reichstag as “Reddit’s HQ,” and a Change.org petition to have Pao fired has garnered nearly 20,000 signatures.

Pao made a personal attempt to quell the protests, stating that the reforms were not intended to commercialize the website, but to retool the website’s structure to facilitate better custodianship of the individual subreddits.

“This year, we have started building better tools for moderators and for admins to help keep subreddits and Reddit awesome, but our infrastructure is monolithic, and it is going to take some time,” Pao wrote on Friday morning. “As a result, we are breaking some of the ways moderators moderate. We are going to figure this out and fix it.”

The appeal appears to have fallen on deaf ears, as the list of subreddits going dark continues to grow, and posts dealing with the reddit protest stack ever higher on the reddit front-page.

Update – July 3rd: r/IAmA is open to the public again, and the moderators have posted a statement explaining their position going forward.

“We have taken the day to try to understand how Reddit will seek to replace Victoria, and have unfortunately come to the conclusion that they do not have a plan that we can put our trust in. The admins have refused to provide essential information about arranging and scheduling AMAs with their new ‘team.’ This does not bode well for future communication between us, and we cannot be sure that everything is being arranged honestly and in accordance with our rules,” the moderators wrote. “As a result, we will no longer be working with the admins to put together AMAs. Anyone seeking to schedule an AMA can simply message the moderators.”

]]>http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415340-reddit-on-the-verge-of-civil-war-after-popular-ama-coordinator-fired/feed/0Virtual Reality Tech May Make Going Shopping in Real Life a Thing of the Pasthttp://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415289-virtual-reality-tech-may-make-going-shopping-in-real-life-a-thing-of-the-past/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1415289-virtual-reality-tech-may-make-going-shopping-in-real-life-a-thing-of-the-past/#commentsFri, 03 Jul 2015 13:56:18 +0000Anthony Kent, Nottingham Trent University]]>High street (main business street in British towns) shops are well-established online these days and provide new opportunities for interaction between shop and shopper. Consumers have become accustomed to shopping using a range of devices and the immense popularity of …]]>

High street (main business street in British towns) shops are well-established online these days and provide new opportunities for interaction between shop and shopper. Consumers have become accustomed to shopping using a range of devices and the immense popularity of smartphones and mobile devices has led to the rise of mobile or m-retailing, with new communication and distribution channels created with these in mind. Perhaps this mix of the real and online worlds are helpful precursors for what may be the “next big thing”: virtual reality shopping.

Virtual reality (VR) experiences are typically provided through wearable headgear or goggles that block out the real world and immerse the user in a virtual one. This is distinguished from augmented reality (AR), where layers of digital content can be overlayed on the real world, providing access to both. For example, the digital information displayed on the visor of Google Glass.

While AR can work with mobile devices and is already included in some apps, for VR to succeed the headgear needs to be comfortable, stylish and powered by sufficiently capable software so that the immersive visual effects are credible—and useful. It’s possible to add deeper engagement with the virtual world by incorporating other senses, for example tactile hand controls for handling and manipulating objects.

In-store Tech

However, the use of technology by retailers in-store has been patchy. The availability of in-store Wi-Fi has increased, and some stores offer touch screens and tablets for customers to browse and search for items and look up information. More common are video screens displaying fashion collections, often connected to apps offering inspirational looks. However more cutting edge tech, such as magic mirrors that overlay the image of the shopper with the clothes they’ve selected, allowing them to switch style and colour options, are less widespread. Sometimes they’re also less than reliable.

In any case, shoppers tend to appreciate functionality over more playful or whimsical means of interacting with the retailer. New additions are welcome when they are informative and save the shopper time, helping them locate products in the store or at another. Not surprisingly consumers would rather not pay for these services, and prefer to be engaged rather than marketed to. Young fashion shoppers simply use their phones to share photos of potential purchases through Snapchat and Instagram. Image is everything, with the retailer providing the backdrop.

Present trends point to the expansion of interactive shop window displays and in-store communication that uses a combination of GPS, transmitters such as the Apple’s iBeacon and other devices using Bluetooth transmissions to interact with shopper’s smartphones. These will take personalization and micromarketing to a new level with real-time offers and information dispatched to their phone as they pass near product displays.

To support their brand, retailers will increasingly look at their customer relationships, so stories, images, videos, and news—fashion and cosmetic blogs have been particularly successful—is where many new opportunities will arise. However, while creative and technologically novel, these are all at best examples of augmented rather than virtual reality.

Making a (Virtual) Impression

Where does this leave the use of virtual reality? We can expect to see trials as retailers become more comfortable offering content through them. New VR headsets such as from Oculus Rift and Sony will offer more and more realistic immersive environments. Sony, drawing on its Playstation expertise aims to to add movement to the user experience. Some brands have already piloted virtual stores, where VR-equipped shoppers could one day have the same experience of browsing through racks and shelves waiting for something to catch their eye—without needing to leave their home.

VR will provide an opportunity to revisit and experience retailers’ and designers’ fashion shows of the past, events, and exhibitions. For example, Top Shop recently transmitted London Fashion week as it happened through Oculus Rift headsets to customers in its Oxford Street store. It may also provide a means for retailers to extend the lifespan of certain promotions to individual customers.

Immersion is particularly promising in the creation or recreation of 3-D environments, which could be especially helpful for those buying furniture, furnishings, paint, and decoration for their homes to envisage how it would look. The recently developed Virtuix virtual reality platform provides a motion controller that translates the users physical movements into equivalents in the virtual environment—a means to, literally, walk around a virtual world.

However, any major step forward will need to make the retailer’s investment worthwhile, and as neither the technology nor shoppers’ complete acceptance of VR is where it needs to be today, there’s some way to go before VR becomes the next big thing in shopping.